LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 


PARIS   AND    HER   PEOPLE 


BY  THE   SAME  AUTHOR 

THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES.   1852-1870 

MY  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  COMMUNE 

MY  DAYS  OF  ADVENTURE,   1870-71 

IN  SEVEN   LANDS 

THE  TRUE  STORY  OF  ALSACE-LORRAINE 


THE   MONUMENT   OF   THE    REPUBLIC,  PLACE  DE  LA 
KEPUBLIQUE,    PARIS. 


PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

UNDER  THE  THIRD    REPUBLIC 

BY 

ERNEST    ALFRED    VIZETELLY 

"LE   PETIT   HOMME^ROUGE" 


WITH  A  FRONTISPIECE 


NEW    YORK 
FREDERICK  A.   STOKES   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


PRINTED    IN    CHEAT    BRITAIN. 


All  rights  reserved 


WITH  '  GRANDPERE'S  '  HEAKTFELT  GOOD  WISHES 

TO  DEAR  LITTLE  JOHN, 

WHOSE  GALLANT  FATHER,  ALLAN  OWEN  BARTLETT, 

DT.-Q  M.  IN  GENERAL  ALLENBY's  CAMEL  CORPS, 

PARTICIPATED  IN  THE  DELIVERANCE  OP 

THE  HOLY  LAND, 
AND  PELL  IN  ACTION  IN  NORTHERN  SYRIA. 

OCTOBER   16,  1918. 

B.I.P. 


Si  PARIS  n'existait  pas  il  faudrait  1'inventcr. 

VOLTAIRB  revised. 


PEEFACE 


WHEN  I  began  to  write  this  book  it  was  my  desire 
to  make  it  a  record  of  Paris  for  the  whole  period 
which  began  when  peace,  law  and  order  had  been 
restored  after  the  rebellion  of  the  Commune,  follow- 
ing the  war  of  1870-71,  and  which  ended  during 
the  summer  of  1914,  when  German  ambition  imposed 
the  recent  terrific  struggle  upon  the  world.  Whilst 
I  proceeded  with  my  work,  however,  I  found  that 
my  design  could  not  be  accomplished  in  its  entirety 
within  the  compass  of  a  single  volume,  and  thus  the 
present  one  only  carries  my  chronicle  of  Parisian 
happenings  down  to  the  end  of  the  last  century. 
With  respect  to  later  years  (1900-1914)  my  hopes 
are  expressed  in  some  of  the  ensuing  pages  (notably 
those  numbered  8,  254  and  306),  but  it  would  be 
presumptuous  on  my  part  to  say  that  those  hopes 
will  positively  be  fulfilled,  for  the  present  volume 
has  been  written  in  the  midst  of  many  difficulties, 
not  only  such  as  were  to  be  expected  in  time  of  war, 
but  others  occasioned  by  several  severe  attacks  of 
illness,  and  by  generally  declining  health.  I  say 
this,  however,  only  by  way  of  explaining  any  short- 
comings in  my  work,  and  do  not  ask  for  critical 
indulgence  on  that  account,  for  I  am  well  aware  that 
a  book  must  be  judged  by  its  merits  or  its  faults, 
irrespective  of  all  other  considerations. 

The  reader  will  observe  that  I  have  given  a  number 
of  statistics  in  this  volume — notably  in  the  opening 
and  the  concluding  chapters.  I  regard  these  figures 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

as  being  either  of  real  importance  or  of  genuine 
interest,  and  I  deemed  it  the  more  advisable  to 
incorporate  them  in  my  pages,  as,  for  the  most  part, 
they  are  not  generally  accessible  elsewhere.  They 
are  usually  the  latest  figures  that  I  could  procure 
during  the  war,  and  they  refer  mostly  to  the  years 
immediately  preceding  the  outbreak  of  hostilities, 
in  such  wise  as  to  give  the  reader  information  respect- 
ing various  features  of  Parisian  life,  as  they  were 
towards  the  close  of  the  long  though  often  threatened 
peace  which  was  patched  up  at  Frankfort  in  May, 
1871. 

In  spite  of  all  the  lessons  conveyed  by  the  recent 
Great  War,  there  are  still,  I  find,  some  English  folk 
who  persist  in  regarding  Paris  merely  as  a  city  of 
frivolity,  the  world's  favourite  pleasure-ground ; 
and,  indeed,  I  have  lately  been  assured  that  readers 
on  this  side  of  the  Channel  have  no  desire  to  be 
supplied  with  any  information  about  Paris  but 
simply  like*  to  be  entertained  with  more  or  less 
"  spicy  "  Parisian  scandals  and  witticisms.  I  dissent 
from  that  view,  the  more  so  as  I  have  beside  me 
a  list  of  more  than  seventy  English  books,  dealing 
chiefly  with  the  more  frivolous  aspects  of  Parisian 
life ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  ten  or  twelve,  all 
of  these  works — issued  since  the  Third  Republic 
came  into  being — are  now  absolutely  dead,  buried 
and  forgotten.  I  am  well  aware  that  a  similar 
fate  may  overtake  this  book  of  mine,  but  it  at  least 
differs  from  many  others,  one  of  its  chief  objects — 
deliberately  designed  by  me — being  to  impart  some 
of  the  information  which  certain  people  affect  to 
scorn,  in  the  hope  that  my  work  may  thereby  escape 
the  early  death  that  has  overtaken  so  many  of  the 
volumes  designed  merely  for  the  amusement  of  the 
passing  hour. 

In  some  respects  my  work — particularly  if  I  am 

able  to  complete  the  second  section  (see  p.  306,  post) 

—may  prove  useful  lor  purposes  of  reference ;  though 


PREFACE  ix 

I  do  not  claim  for  it  any  higher  status  than  that  of 
a  memoire  pour  servir,  which  may,  in  some  degree, 
prepare  the  ground  for  future  writers  on  Parisian 
history.  Many  names,  many  titles,  will  be  found 
in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  pages.  The  classified 
lists  which  are  given  in  my  index  testify  to  the 
prodigious  activity  of  Paris  in,  for  instance,  such 
spheres  as  literature  and  the  stage.  Yet  they  are 
by  no  means  exhaustive.  Many  more  authors, 
actors,  actresses,  painters,  scientists,  operas,  plays, 
books,  etc.,  have  been  reserved  by  me  for  the  other 
volume  which  I  wish  to  write  ;  and  there  are  doubtless 
some  names  and  titles  which  I  might  even  have 
included  in  the  present  volume  had  I  found  space 
for  them.  If  any  notable  omissions,  due  to  forget- 
fulness,  are  pointed  out  to  me  by  my  critics,  I  will 
do  my  best  to  remedy  them  hereafter.  I  may  add 
that  considerations  of  space  have  often  prevented  me 
from  giving  more  than  a  name  or  a  title,  but  when- 
ever opportunity  has  allowed  it  I  have  endeavoured 
to  add  a  few  words  of  appreciation  or  criticism. 
I  think,  however,,  that  even  the  mere  nomenclature 
which  will  be  found  in  my  pages  may  prove  of  some 
little  utility. 

Whilst  I  dissent  strongly  from  the  view  that 
Paris  is  to  be  judged  chiefly  by  what  one  may  call 
the  more  frivolous  sides  of  its  life,  I  readily  agree 
that  these  must  not  be  ignored.  I  have  glanced 
at  them  now  and  again  in  the  present  volume — 
notably  in  regard  to  the  brasseries  and  the  Mont- 
martre  cdboulots,  including  the  notorious  Chat  Noir, 
but  these  latter  places  were  from  the  outset  chiefly 
patronized  by  the  cosmopolitan  element  in  the  popu- 
lation of  Paris  or  else  by  young  students  from  the 
French  provinces,  and,  curiously  enough,  quite  a 
number  of  them  were  really  "  run  "  by  Germans, 
who  passed  themselves  off  as  being  of  Alsatian  origin. 
A  few,  of  a  genuine  French  character,  have  survived 
the  war.  Others  disappeared  soon  after  its  advent, 


x  PREFACE 

chiefly  because  their  promoters  were  either  interned 
or  expelled  the  country.  On  the  subject  of  the 
authentic  French  stage  I  have  given  a  great  variety 
of  information,  because  it  is  so  firmly  bound  up  with 
Parisian  life.  I  know  of  no  other  city  in  the  world 
where  the  same  close  association  prevails.  I  intend 
no  disparagement  of  our  Parisian  friends  when  I 
say  that,  in  all  classes  of  society,  they  are  by  nature 
histrionically  inclined.  In  public  a  Parisian  is 
always  more  or  less  en  representation,  and  a  geste, 
a  beau  geste,  is  his  ideal.  But  this  has  its  advan- 
tages :  in  times  of  stress  a  man  finds  it  incumbent 
on  him  to  live  up  to  the  role  which  he  has  previously 
assumed,  and  we  well  know  that  the  Parisians 
acquitted  themselves  with  the  greatest  courage  and 
fortitude  during  the  severe  trials  to  which  they  were 
subjected  by  the  dastardly  aggression  of  Germany. 
An  unkind  fate  prevented  me  from  sharing  those 
trials — as  I  shared  those  of  the  German  siege  and  the 
Commune  long  ago.  I  had  to  rest  content  with 
writing  the  present  book  between  and  amidst  the 
frequent  air  raids  on  London,  interrupted  at  times 
(as  I  usually  work  in  the  evening)  by  the  sudden 
reports  of  maroons,  followed  by  urgent  entreaties 
"  to  go  downstairs,"  just  as  I  was  in  the  middle  of 
a  sentence  which  I  found  rather  difficult  to  construct. 
However,  in  one  way  or  another,  I  contrived  to 
finish  my  volume,  and  here  it  is,  prepared  to  meet  the 
fate  which  the  reviewer  and  the  reader  may  assign 
to  it. 

E.  A.  V. 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  INTRODUCTORY — PARIS   AFTER   THE    COMMUNE  1 

II.  THE   REVIVAL   IN   THE   SEVENTIES — THE   STAGE  22 

III.  FARTHER    IN    THE    SEVENTIES — THE  MAID    OF    ORLEANS,    SOME 

LITERARY   MEN,   THE   STAGE   AGAIN  89 

IV.  THE   END   OF  THE   SEVENTIES  57 
V.  THE   DECADE   OF  THE   EIGHTIES  85 

vi.  THE  EIGHTIES — continued  112 

vii.  THE  EIGHTIES — concluded  138 

VIII.  THE   DECADE  OF  THE   NINETIES  353 

ix.  THE  NINETIES—  continued  188 

X.  THE   END   OF  THE   NINETIES  216 

XI.  SOME   PHASES   OF  PARISIAN  LIFE  254 

XII.  FURTHER  PHASES   OF  LIFE  277 

INDEX  307 


PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 


INTRODUCTORY — PARIS   AFTER   THE   COMMUNE 

The  Extent  of  Paris — Her  present-day  Thoroughfares  and  Pleasure  Grounds 
— Her  Means  of  Transport,  Public  Lighting  Service,  Flats  and  Rentals, 
Hotels  and  Visitors — The  Postal,  Telegraphic  and  Telephonic  Services 
— Schools  and  Libraries — The  Population  from  1820  onward — The 
Birth  and  Death  Rates  during  the  Franco-German  War  and  the 
Commune — Growth  of  the  Population  from  1872  to  1913— The  Decline 
in  the  Birth  and  Death  Rates — The  Municipality  and  the  Prefects — 
The  City  after  the  Commune— Its  Penury— The  Loans  of  1871,  '76, 
'76  and  afterwards — The  Debt  and  Revenue — Premium-Bonds — The 
Rebuilding  of  the  destroyed  Edifices — The  Case  of  the  Tuileries — 
The  Ruins  of  the  Court  of  Accounts — Reaction  after  Convulsion — 
A  Glance  backward  at  the  Terror — The  Directory  and  Napoleon's 
Time — Paris  after  Waterloo — Foreign  Troops  in  the  City. 

NOWADAYS  the  city  of  Paris,  within  the  limits  of  the 
fortifications  which  were  devised  by  the  Marshal 
Dode  de  la  Brunerie  under  the  inspiration  of  Thiers, 
extends  over  a  surface  of  more  than  thirty  square 
miles,  or  almost  exactly  19,282  acres — the  Biver 
Seine,  which  intersects,  and  the  canals  which  enter 
the  city,  being  omitted  from  this  calculation.  In 
the  year  1912  the  total  length  of  the  boulevards, 
avenues,  streets  and  by-ways  of  Paris  was  not  less 
than  630  miles.*  The  pleasure  grounds  and  similar 
promenades  (including  the  gardens  of  the  Tuileries, 
the  Louvre  and  the  Luxembourg)  covered  an  expanse 
of  over  548  acres,  whilst  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  and 
the  Bois  de  Vincennes,  outside  the  city,  had  areas, 

*  The  streets  of  Paris  are  under  the  supervision  of  112  officials  who  are 
assisted  by  208  engineers  and  over  3000  cantonniers  or  road-menders. 
There  are  about  2000  street  sweepers,  men  and  women,  often  of  Alsatian 
birth,  and  also  a  number  of  sweeping  machines. 

B 


2  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

the  first  of  2154  and  the  second  of  2310  acres.  More 
than  400  statues,  many  of  them  of  famous  men, 
adorned  the  pleasure  grounds  inside  Paris.  These 
grounds  also  contained  some  80  fountains.  There 
were  between  40  and  50  statues  in  the  public 
thoroughfares  and  open  spaces,  together  with  many 
more  fountains,  often  of  quite  a  monumental  char- 
acter. Fully  17,000  horse-drawn  cabs  and  14,500 
taxi-cabs  were  plying  for  hire,  and  there  were  68 
omnibus  and  31  tramway  services.  The  railway 
lines  conveying  passengers  to  one  and  another  part 
of  the  city  comprised  the  Ceinture,  the  Metropolitan! 
and  the  Nord-Sud.  The  streets  were  lighted  by 
58,000  gas,  as  well  as  by  a  large  number  of  electric, 
lamps.  The  number  of  trees  in  the  streets  or  open 
spaces  was  87,500  and  there  were  more  than  8000 
seats  in  the  thoroughfares  for  the  accommodation 
of  tired  people  and,  I  may  add,  of  loafers  also.  The 
municipal  returns  do  not  state  the  number  of  houses, 
but  they  mention  the  number  of  flats  and  unfurnished 
rooms  let  singly  or  in  pairs,  the  total  number  of  all 
these  habitations  being  1,009,723.  In  1912  the 
justifiable  rentals  were  estimated  at  £25,068,400  ; 
but  this  figure,  akin  to  the  rateable  value  fixed  for 
houses  in  London,  was  by  no  means  equivalent  to 
the  rents  actually  paid  by  the  Parisians.  Only 
729  flats  were  stated  to  be  worth  a  rental  of  £800  and 
over ;  whereas  the  logements  estimated  at  from  £8 
to  £12  per  annum  numbered  227,115 ;  whilst  those 
worth  from  £16  to  £20  were  158,486.  In  that  same 
year,  1912,  the  hotels  and  maisons  meublees  gave, 
I  find,  accommodation  to  1,327,230  visitors,  521,780 
of  whom  were  foreigners. 

During  that  year  the  total  number  of  items  dealt 
with  by  the  Paris  postal  service — including  ordinary 
letters,  registered  letters,  post-cards,  samples,  circu- 
lars, newspapers,  etc. — was  1,859,750,941.  Further, 
8,856,149  telegrams  were  despatched  from  the  city, 
and  9,237,318  were  received  there.  The  number  of 


INTRODUCTORY  3 

regular  telephone  abonnes,  paying  £16  a  year,  was 
over  60,000.  There  were  529  public  telephone 
"  boxes." 

Young  Paris  was  at  this  time  provided  with  an 
abundance  of  schools  and  colleges.  The  infant 
schools  were  about  200  in  number.  There  were 
1271  elementary  schools  (426  being  public  ones),  and 
they  were  attended  by  234,400  pupils.  The  city 
also  contained  thirteen  municipal  and  twelve  state 
lycees  or  colleges,  several  scientific  and  commercial 
schools,  others  for  teaching  manual  arts  and  crafts, 
and  there  were  numerous  evening  classes  both 
for  the  young  and  for  adults.  The  libraries  were 
very  numerous.  There  were  six  belonging  to  the 
University  and  four  to  the  State.  Of  the  last- 
named  the  famous  Bibliotheque  Nationale  reported 
nearly  240,000  attendances.  At  the  eighty  municipal 
libraries  the  number  of  applications  for  books  to  be 
read  either  in  the  building  or  at  home,  was  1,332,232. 
Of  these  718,892  or  53*96  per  cent,  were  applications 
for  works  of  fiction.  In  addition  to  the  libraries 
just  mentioned  Paris  has  a  dozen  others  specially 
supplying  technical  and  professional  works.* 

Five  years  after  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  that  is  in 
1820,  when  the  throne  of  France  and  Navarre,  as 
folk  then  said,  was  occupied  by  Louis  XVIII,  the 
population  of  Paris  was  estimated  at  729,371  souls. 
The  city  was  then,  however,  of  smaller  extent  than 
is  the  case  nowadays,  for  such  districts  as  Mont- 
martre,  Belleville,  Batignolles,  Montrouge,  Passy, 
Auteuil,  etc.,  situated  within  the  fortifications  dating 
from  Louis-Philippe's  time,  but  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  municipal  octroi  service  as  it  then  existed, 
were  only  incorporated  with  the  central  parts  of 
Paris  in  1860,  having  previously  ranked  as  separate 
communes.  Nevertheless,  older  Paris  already  attained 
to  a  population  of  over  a  million  in  1844.  In  1861, 

*  Additional  information  on  several  of  the  matters  mentioned  in  the 
foregoing  statistical  survey  will  be  found  in  other  parts  of  this  volume. 


4  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

the  year  after  the  annexation  of  the  communes  to 
which  I  have  referred,  a  census  showed  the  popula- 
tion to  be  1,696,141.  Five  years  later,  when  the 
last  census  of  the  Second  Empire  was  taken,  the 
figures  had  become  1,825,274.  In  1870,  when  the 
Franco-German  War  began,  it  was  officially  estimated 
that  the  number  of  inhabitants  had  increased  to 
about  1,842,950.  Although  the  last  four  months 
of  the  year  in  question  were  those  of  the  German 
siege,  and  although  there  were  between  four  and 
five  thousand  marriages  fewer  than  in  1869,  the 
number  of  births  in  Paris  increased  from  54,937  to 
57,586  * — this  increase  being  entirely  in  the  number 
of  legitimate  offspring,  for  there  was  a  drop  of  a 
few  hundred  in  the  number  of  illegitimates.  Against 
this,  however,  must  be  set  the  fact  that  the  number 
of  deaths,  which  had  been  45,872  in  1869,  increased 
to  73,563 — in  such  wise  that,  inclusive  of  stillborn 
children  (not  comprised  in  the  foregoing  birth 
statistics),!  ^ne  death-rate  rose  during  the  earlier 
period  of  the  German  siege  from  25  to  39*9  per 
thousand. 

In  that  respect  matters  were  even  worse  during 
the  following  year,  1871,  which  included  both  the 
last  and  the  most  terrible  month  of  the  siege  and  the 
whole  period  of  the  Commune's  rebellion.  That 
year  there  were  1691  fewer  marriages  than  in  1870, 
and  a  drop  of  more  than  20,000  occurred  in  the 
number  of  births,  whilst  the  number  of  deaths,  which 
included  those  of  many  insurgents  killed  in  the  fight- 
ing— increased  to  86,760,  equivalent  to  46*9  per 
thousand  of  the  population. 

A  census  taken  in  1872,  when  peace  and  law  and 
order  had  returned,  showed  that  the  population 
had  increased  to  1,851,792.  The  birth-rate — only 

*  The  detailed  figures  indicate  the  birth  of  about  1000  more  boys  than 
girls. 

t  In  1869  the  number  of  stillborn  offspring  was  4549.  In  1870  it 
increased  to  4911. 


INTRODUCTORY  5 

20-5  per  1000  in  '71— rose  to  30'7  per  1000 ;  whilst 
the  number  of  deaths  fell  to  21*4  per  1000,  or  very 
nearly  4  per  1000  fewer  than  before  the  Franco- 
German  War.  In  subsequent  years  the  population 
of  Paris  increased  as  follows : — Census  of  1876, 
population,  1,988,806 ;  in  1881,  2,239,928  ;  in  1891, 
2,42-4,705;  in  1901  (the  first  year  of  the  twentieth 
century),  2,660,559 ;  in  1906,  2,722,731  ;  and  in 
1911  (the  last  census  taken  prior  to  the  Great  World 
War),  2,847,229.  Moreover  it  was  officially  calcu- 
lated in  1913,  the  year  preceding  the  outbreak 
of  war,  that  the  population  then  stood  at  about 
2,897,000. 

The  birth-rate,  however,  had  long  been  declining. 
The  last  year  in  which  it  exceeded  25  per  1000  of  the 
population  was  1889.  It  had  fallen  to  20  per  1000 
in  1903,  to  17-5  per  1000  in  1909,  whilst  in  1912  and 
again  in  1913  it  was  no  more  than  16 '8  per  1000. 
That  declining  birth-rate  has  been  the  curse  of  France. 
Yet  the  number  of  marriages  in  Paris  rose  in  1907 
to  over  30,000.  In  1911  there  were  31,597  ;  in 
1912,  32,746  ;  and  in  1913,  31,916.  More  marriages 
but  fewer  births,  such  is  the  tale  told  by  the  municipal 
statistics.  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  the 
number  of  deaths  has  also  largely  declined,  thanks, 
I  take  it,  to  improvements  in  sanitation.  They  have 
not  amounted  to  20  per  1000  of  the  population  since 
1895.  They  averaged  rather  more  than  17  per  1000 
from  1903  to  1909.  In  the  following  year  they  fell 
to  16-2  per  1000,  whilst  in  1913,  15'4  per  1000  was 
the  recorded  figure — the  birth-rate  surpassing  it  by 
1'4.  The  number  of  boys  born  appears  always  to 
have  exceeded  the  number  of  girls,  though  sometimes 
the  difference  has  been  one  of  only  a  few  hundreds. 
The  number  of  illegitimate  offspring  has  certainly 
decreased.  Whereas  it  stood  at  14,832  in  1901,  it 
had  fallen  to  11,762  in  1913. 

The  governing  body  of  the  city  of  Paris  is  the 
Municipal  Council,  acting  in  conjunction  with  the 


6  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Prefect  of  the  department  of  the  Seine  and  the 
Prefect  of  Police.  At  the  time  of  the  great  revolu- 
tion there  was  a  Conseil  de  la  Commune,  consisting 
of  a  mayor,  16  adminislrateurs,  32  councillors,  96 
notables,  a  procurer  and  his  assessors,  all  of  them 
elected  by  citizens  over  twenty-five  years  old  and 
paying  taxes  equivalent  to  three  days'  work.  The 
city  was  then  divided  into  forty-eight  sections. 
Napoleon  changed  the  coi  ncil  into  one  of  24,  and 
later  of  16  members,  all  presented  by  the  Prefect, 
but  appointed  by  imperial  decree.  Under  Louis 
Philippe,  when  there  were  36  councillors,  three  for 
each  of  the  twelve  arrondissements  then  existing,  and 
in  addition  eight  others  for  suburban  districts, 
the  selection  was  left  to  a  restricted  number  of 
electors.  After  the  revolution  of  1848  the  executive 
appointed  a  municipal  committee.  Napoleon  III 
again  made  the  municipality  one  of  36  members, 
appointed  by  him  for  a  term  of  five  years.  The  36 
-were  increased  to  60  after  Montmartre,  Belleville, 
Batignolles,  Passy,  Auteuil,  etc.,  were  added  to  the 
city  in  1860.  When  Paris  was  besieged  during  the 
Franco-German  War  there  was  no  general  munici- 
pality. The  National  Defence  Government  ap- 
pointed a  chief  Mayor,  first  Etienne  Arago  and  later 
Jules  Ferry,  and  the  arrondissement  or  district  mayors 
were  elected  by  universal  suffrage. 

In  April,  1871,  during  the  early  period  of  the 
Communal  rising,  the  National  Assembly  passed  a 
law  setting  forth  that  the  municipality  of  Paris 
should  be  elected  by  universal  suffrage ;  but  this 
measure  was  suspended  during  the  insurrection  and 
for  some  time  afterwards.  Having  eventually  been 
put  into  practice,  it  remains  in  force  to-day.  The 
city's  twenty  arrondissements  *  are  divided  into  eighty 

*  These  are  called :  1,  Louvre  ;  2,  Bourse  ;  3,  Temple  j  4,  Hotel-de- 
Ville  ;  5,  Pantheon  ;  6,  Luxembourg  ;  7,  Palais  Bourbon  ;  8,  Elysee ;  9, 
Opera;  10,  Encloa  St.-Laurent;  11,  Popincourt;  12,  Reuilly;  13, 
Gobelins;  14,  Observatoire ;  15,  Vaugirard ;  16,  Passy- Auteuil ;  17, 
Batignolles ;  18,  Montmartre ;  19,  Buttes  Chaumont ;  20,  Menilmontant. 


INTRODUCTORY  7 

quartiers,  each  of  which  elects  a  councillor.  Before 
1905  there  was  no  Conseil  general  (county  council) 
of  the  Seine.  The  proper  organization  of  what  one 
may  call  the  Parisian  environs  was  adjourned  re- 
peatedly, but  in  the  year  above-mentioned  a  Conseil 
general  was  instituted,  with  80  members  for  Paris 
itself,  and  22  for  the  outlying  cantons  or  districts. 
These  outlying  districts,  which  in  1911  had  a  popula- 
tion of  1,266,000,  return  fourteen  out  of  the  fifty-four 
deputies  for  the  Seine,  and  participate  in  the  election 
of  the  department's  ten  senators.  The  Conseil 
general  does  not  interfere  with  the  strictly  municipal 
affairs  of  Paris,  but  attends  only  to  those  which 
concern  the  whole  department. 

The  Prefects  of  the  Seine  and  Police  virtually 
represent  the  Prevot  de  Paris  and  the  Prevot  des 
Marchands,  the  Lieutenant  criminel  and  the  Lieu- 
tenant civil,  of  the  old  French  monarchy.  The 
Prefect  of  the  Seine,  who  received  a  salary  of  £2000 — 
his  secretary-general  taking  £720 — is  appointed  by 
Government  and  is  the  chief  State  representative 
for  the  administration  of  the  whole  department, 
excepting  the  police  services.  He  is  assisted  by  a 
prefectoral  council.  It  may  be  said  that  he  is  the 
general  mayor.  He  takes  precedence  of  the  President 
of  the  Municipal  Council.  The  Prefect  of  Police, 
whose  salary  is  £1600  (his  secretary-general  receiving 
£600),  exercises  authority,  under  Government  which 
appoints  him,  over  the  municipal  and  judicial  police, 
the  prisons,  railways,  places  of  worship,  etc.  For 
certain  police  purposes  his  jurisdiction  extends 
beyond  the  department  of  the  Seine.  There  is  a 
commissary  of  police  in  each  quartier  or  sub-district 
of  Paris,  ten  of  them  ranking  as  divisional  com- 
missaries, and  one  in  each  of  the  twenty  arrondisse- 
ments  being  invested  with  minor  magisterial  func- 
tions. The  salaries  mentioned  above  are  paid  by  the 
State,  which  also  contributes  to  those  of  the  employees 
of  the  two  prefectures.  The  rest  of  the  money  is 


8  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

found  by  the  department  or  the  city.  The  cost  of 
the  Garde  Republicaine  is  defrayed  as  to  one-half 
by  the  State,  and  as  to  the  other  by  the  munici- 
pality of  Paris.  There  is  yet  another  Parisian 
functionary  appointed  by  Government,  that  is  the 
Director  of  Poor  Relief  (Assistance  publique). 

The  many  figures  given  in  previous  paragraphs 
will  have  made  the  opening  passages  of  this  book 
somewhat  dry  reading,  but  they  are  figures  which 
have  their  importance,  and  although  I  shall  have 
occasion  to  refer  somewhat  later  to  the  various 
component  parts  of  the  population  of  Paris,  I  have 
preferred  to  give  the  reader  at  the  outset  an  idea  of 
what  the  population  amounted  to  during  and  after 
the  Franco-German  War,  and  what  it  had  become 
on  the  eve,  so  to  say,  of  the  recent  great  struggle. 
In  the  following  pages  I  propose  to  set  down  what  I 
recollect  and  what  I  learned  of  Paris  and  her  people 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  period  which  inter- 
vened between  the  two  wars.  At  times  I  shall  have 
occasion  to  glance  at  earlier  periods  of  Parisian 
history,  on  account  of  the  light  they  throw  on  some 
episodes  of  the  times  with  which  I  wish  to  deal,  and 
I  shall  also  have  to  quote  other  statistics.  Whilst  I 
give,  however,  in  certain  respects  the  very  latest 
figures  1  can  find,  it  has  been  impossible  for  me,  in 
this  present  volume,  to  carry  my  general  chronicle 
of  Parisian  happenings  beyond  the  year  1900.  I 
hope  to  review  subsequent  years  in  another  book. 

In    the    summer    and    autumn    of    1871    many 
Parisians  who  had  quitted  their  homes  the  previous 
year  when   it   became   evident   that   the   Germans 
intended  to  besiege  the  city,  and  who  had  prolonged 
their  absence — often  in  some  far-away  province— 
during  the  war's  terrible  aftermath,  the  Commune, 
returned  once  more  to  their  former  surroundings— 
the  Boulevards,  the  Bois,  the  Champs  Elysees^and 
other  favourite  spots.     The  hotels  were  doing  good 


AFTER  THE  COMMUNE  9 

business,  for  the  city  was  full  of  foreign  and  pro- 
vincial tourists  eager  to  gaze  upon  the  ruins  and  other 
traces  of  strife  and  destruction  which  the  war,  and 
particularly  the  insurrection,  had  left  behind  them. 
In  the  early  pages  of  the  last  instalment  of  my 
reminiscences  ('  In  Seven  Lands ')  I  sketched  the 
aspect  of  the  environs  of  Paris  such  as  I  found  them 
to  be  whilst  engaged  with  my  father  in  house-hunting. 
Some  of  the  more  immediate  suburbs  had  suffered 
severely.  The  German  bombardment  had  done 
most  damage  on  the  southern  side ;  whilst  the 
operations  of  MacMahon's  forces  against  the  Com- 
mune had  more  particularly  affected  outlying  loca- 
lities on  the  south-west  and  west  of  the  city,  such 
places,  for  instance,  as  Issy,  Neuilly  and  Levallois 
being  full  of  ruins.  Artillery  fire  had  also  been 
responsible  for  some  destruction  inside  Paris,  but 
that  was  as  nothing  compared  with  all  the  damage 
wrought  by  the  conflagrations  which  at  night  time, 
during  the  last  desperate  week  of  the  Commune's 
agitated  existence,  cast  a  lurid  glow  over  so  many 
parts  of  Paris. 

Naturally  enough,  the  thousands  of  arrests 
which  attended  or  followed  the  quelling  of  the 
insurrection  resulted  for  a  while  in  a  great  shortage 
of  labour.  After  the  city's  capitulation  to  the 
Germans  labour  had  been  plentiful  enough,  but  no 
work  was  to  be  had.  Now  the  position  was  changed, 
though  the  resumption  of  work  was  further  impeded 
by  another  serious  shortage,  that  of  money.  When 
Paris  capitulated  to  the  Germans,  its  municipality 
had  to  pay  them  a  war  levy  of  £20,000,000,  and  this 
laid  a  strain  on  its  resources,  the  more  particularly 
as  during  the  130  days  of  investment  no  municipal 
taxes  or  dues — such  as  those  of  the  octroi  service- 
had  been  levied.  Matters  remained  in  much  the 
same  state  during  the  brief  interval  preceding 
the  Commune,  at  whose  advent  all  became  con- 
fusion, the  forerunners  of  the  Petrograd  Bolsheviks 


10  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

appropriating  every  franc  of  State  and  municipal 
funds  that  they  could  contrive  to  lay  hands  upon. 
Thus,  on  the  restoration  of  law  and  order,  Paris 
was,  administratively,  very  hard-up. 

At  the  first  moment  it  seemed  quite  impossible 
to  raise  a  loan.  The  State  had  the  foremost  claim 
on  the  country's  resources,  it  being  necessary  to 
find  money  to  pay  the  war  indemnity  demanded 
by  the  Germans  and  to  defray  the  cost  of  maintaining 
their  "  army  of  occupation."  It  followed  that 
although  the  Commune  collapsed  at  the  end  of  May, 
and  the  requirements  of  Paris  were  urgent,  the  city 
had  to  wait  until  the  latter  part  of  September  before 
it  could  well  borrow  any  money.  The  transaction 
was  costly,  but  necessary.  Premium-bonds  were 
issued,  each  having  a  face-value  of  400  francs  (£16), 
but  the  actual  price  of  issue  averaged  about  275 
francs,  or  only  £11.  The  rate  of  interest  was  fixe4 
at  3  per  cent,  per  annum,  and  the  loan  was  to  be 
repaid  by  annual  instalments  spread  over  a  period 
of  about  seventy-five  years,  the  last  payments  being 
due  in  the  spring  of  1946.  The  annual  amount 
payable  in  premiums  or  "  prizes "  was  fixed  at 
£60,000.  The  number  of  bonds  issued  was  1,296,300, 
and  the  actual  amount  realized  by  the  city  on  the 
transaction  was  £14,000,040.  Four  years  later  Paris 
issued  another  loan — one  at  4  per  cent,  interest,  with 
annual  premiums  amounting  to  £36,000.  This  loan 
(the  face- value  of  the  bonds  was  £20)  brought  the 
city  £8,800,000.  Then,  in  1876,  there  came  a  third 
loan,  which  realized  £4,800,000,  each  bond  again 
representing  £20  at  4  per  cent,  interest,  and  £20,000 
being  payable  annually  in  premiums. 

That  the  credit  of  Paris  was  improving  was 
shown  by  the  fact  that  whereas  the  average  price 
at  which  the  1875  loan  was  issued  was  about  439 
francs  or,  roughly,  £17  11s.  3d.,  that  of  the  loan  of 
'76  was  £18  12s.  Referring  back  to  the  loan  of 
1871,  it  will  be  found  that  if  the  bonds,  like  those  of 


AFTER  THE   COMMUNE  11 

the  later  issues,  had  represented  £20  instead  of  £16, 
the  price  of  issue  would  have  been  equivalent  to 
£13  15«.  It  is  true  that  the  interest  on  the  '71  loan 
was  1  per  cent,  less  than  on  the  others.* 

I  was  not  in  Paris  at  the  moment  when  the  loan 
of  1871  was  contracted,  but  I  afterwards  secured  a 
few  bonds  at  an  advance  of  between  £2  and  £3  apiece. 
None  of  them  ever  won  a  "  prize,"  but  they  were 
redeemed  in  course  of  time  at  their  face-value  of 
£16,  so  that,  in  addition  to  receiving  interest  on 
them,  I  derived  from  each  a  profit  of  about  £3.  One 
of  a  dozen  bonds  of  the  loan  of  1875  which  I  purchased 
proved  to  be  what  is  called  "  a  lucky  number,"  and 
I  thereby  netted  £200.  Those  were  some  of  the 
little  speculations  of  a  young  man  who  was  seeking— 
vainly,  as  it  happened — a  much  bigger  prize  in  the 
great  lottery  of  life.  I  was  very  fortunate  in  other 
.ventures  at  that  period,  owing  chiefly  to  the  help  of 
an  old  school  chum  who  had  become  connected  with 
the  banking-world  and  the  Bourse ;  but,  subse- 
quently, after  I  had  made  in  a  couple  of  years  or  so 
a  profit  of  between  two  and  three  thousand  pounds 
on  an  original  capital  of  barely  a  hundred — saved 
out  of  the  proceeds  of  my  work  as  a  writer — there 
came  a  change  in  my  life  which  did  not  conduce  to  a 
continuance  of  pecuniary  good  fortune. 

There  has  been  considerable  controversy  in  Great 
Britain  respecting  the  advisability  of  issuing  premium- 
bonds.  Paris  continued  doing  so  down  to  the  out- 
break of  the  recent  war,  and  the  French  authorities 
have  never  regarded  the  practice  as  immoral.  In 
1913,  apart  from  half  a  dozen  Credit  Foncier 
loans,  Paris  was  paying  interest  on  thirteen  loans 
represented  by  premium-bonds,  the  oldest  dating  from 

*  About  the  time  when  the  Great  War  broke  out  the  £16  bonds  of 
1871,  issued  at  £11,  had  a  market  value  of  about  £15  18s.  The  £20  bonds 
of  1875,  issued  at  about  £17  11s.,  commanded  at  the  Bourse  over  £21,  and 
so  did  those  of  1876,  issued  at  £18  12s.  It  should  be  remembered  that 
these  last  loans  were  4  per  cent.,  and  that  in  1914  the  French  capital  had 
long  ceased  borrowing  at  so  high  a  rate  of  interest. 


12  PARIS   AND  HER  PEOPLE 

1865  and  the  latest  from  1912.  The  original  face- 
value  of  all  these  bonds  was  about  £137,200,000. 
The  amount  they  had  so  far  brought  the  city  (the 
issue  of  two  of  them  not  being  absolutely  completed) 
was  approximately  £129,760,000.  The  rate  of 
interest  varied,  being  4  per  cent,  in  three  instances, 
3  per  cent,  in  another  three  instances,  2f  per  cent, 
in  two  instances,  2J  in  three  instances,  and  2  in  a 
couple  of  others.  The  premiums  which  were  payable 
amounted  altogether  to  rather  less  than  £418,000 
annually.  On  December  31,  1913,  the  total  out- 
standing capital  amount  for  which  the  city  was 
liable  in  respect  to  the  bonds  of  the  aforementioned 
loans  was,  in  round  figures,  £97,132,000.*  One  loan, 
contracted  in  1910,  was  not  to  be  fully  redeemed 
until  1981,  but  earlier  dates  were  fixed  for  completing 
the  redemption  of  others. 

The  above  details  may  constitute  yet  more 
arid  reading,  but  I  have  given  them  because  they 
show  how  largely  Paris  has  availed  herself  of  the 
opportunity  to  raise  money  for  great  municipal 
improvements  by  means  of  premium-bonds.  Those 
who  are  opposed  to  the  issue  of  similar  bonds  in 
Great  Britain  talk  glibly  of  their  demoralizing  effect. 
But  assuredly  they  have  never  demoralized  the 
Parisians,  who  have  applied  for  them  eagerly  every 
time  a  fresh  loan  has  been  issued.  Many  of  these 
bonds  are  purchased  by  provincial,  even  foreign, 
investors,  but  large  numbers  are  bought  by  the 
Parisians  themselves,  and  are  disseminated  among 
all  classes  of  the  community,  from  very  wealthy 
people  down  to  the  more  thrifty  members  of  the 
proletariate.  In  only  one  instance  has  the  face- 

*  About  £20,000,000  were  owing  to  the  Credit  Foncier,  and  various 
sums,  amounting  to  rather  less  than  £490,000,  and  pUyable  in  annual 
instalments,  were  owing  with  respect  to  canals,  markets,  etc.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  total  revenue  of  Paris  in  1912  (the  last  year  for  which 
I  find  complete  accounts)  was  £31,859,856  8s.,  besides  which  the  municipal 
exchequer  received  in  1912  £8,947,204  Ss.  6d.,  being  moneys  overdue  from 
previous  years. 


AFTER  THE  COMMUNE  13 

value  of  a  City  of  Paris  bond  been  as  low  as  £12. 
The  usual  figures  have  been  £16  and  £20  ;  yet  I  have 
often  found  folk  in  quite  humble  circumstances 
saving  franc  after  franc  in  the  hope  of  ultimately 
being  able  to  purchase  an  obligation  which — should 
"  the  wheel  of  fortune  "  favour  it — might  yield  them, 
if  not  a  competence  for  life,  at  least  a  welcome 
addition  to  their  slender  means.  Besides,  money 
was  not  thrown  away  by  such  a  speculation.  The 
lottery-ticket  which  fails  to  win  a  prize  becomes  a 
worthless  scrap  of  paper,  whereas  the  premium-bond, 
besides  bearing  interest,  must  at  least  be  redeemed 
on  some  appointed  date  at  its  face- value,  and,  in  the 
meanwhile,  it  can  always  be  disposed  of,  though,  of 
course,  as  happens  with  respect  to  all  speculative 
ventures,  the  market-value  may  vary.  But  I  have 
known  far  more  violent  fluctuations  in  the  value  of 
our  gilt-edged  Consols  than  in  that  of  the  pre- 
mium-bonds which  so  appropriately  bear  the  motto, 
Fluctuat  nee  mergitur,  associated  with  the  shield 
of  Paris. 

The  loans  of  1871,  '75  and  '76  were  raised  chiefly 
to  defray  the  expense  of  repairing  some  of  the 
ravages  of  war  and  insurrection.  Not,  however, 
until  1877  did  the  question  of  rebuilding  the  Hotel- 
de-Ville,  reduced  to  a  mere  skeleton  by  the  fires 
which  the  Communards  had  kindled,  take  practical 
shape.  During  the  two  following  years  the  work 
proceeded  under  the  direction  of  Ballu  and  de  Perthes, 
the  new  edifice  being  loftier  and  larger  than  the  old 
one,  but  retaining  virtually  all  the  features  of  its 
style.  Many  buildings  which  had  suffered  from 
incendiarism  and  gun-fire  were  not  the  city's  property. 
Numbers  of  dwellings  and  storeplaces  and  several 
theatres  belonged  to  private  individuals  and  com- 
panies, and  these  owners  had  to  be  indemnified— 
chiefly,  I  believe,  by  the  State.  The  latter  owned 
several  of  the  principal  edifices  which  had  been 
destroyed  or  damaged,  among  them  being  the  palace 


14  PARIS   AND  HER  PEOPLE 

of  the  Tuileries,  the  Palais  Royal,  the  Ministry  of 
Finances,  the  parts  of  the  Louvre  which  had  con- 
tained the  library,  the  Palais  de  Justice,  the  Palais 
de  la  Legion  d'Honneur,  and  the  Cour  des  Comptes. 
The  churches,  several  of  them  more  or  less  seriously 
damaged,  and  a  few  destro3red,  were  also  mostly 
State  property.  In  a  good  many  instances  repairing 
or  rebuilding  work  was  started  as  soon  as  became 
possible,  but  there  was  much  to  be  done,  and  re- 
edification  and  renovation  proceeded  slowly,  so  that 
years  elapsed  before  all  traces  of  the  Commune's 
final  week  of  blood  and  fire  were  effaced. 

The  Tuileries  palace  was  never  rebuilt,  though 
there  was  occasionally  some  talk  of  doing  so,  par- 
ticularly at  the  time  when  the  Royalist  members  of 
the  National  Assembly  were  intriguing  for  the 
Restoration  of  the  Monarchy.  But  Republicans 
of  all  shades  resolutely  opposed  every  suggestion 
which  was  made  to  raise  any  kind  of  edifice  on  the 
site  of  the  "  accursed  palace  of  royal  and  imperial 
despotism."  I  sometimes  heard  one  or  another 
acquaintance  urge  that  when  you  stood  under  the 
Arc  de  Triomphe  and  looked  down  the  Champs 
Elysees  you  naturally  felt  disappointed  at  not 
perceiving  some  imposing  pile  at  the  end  of  the  long 
vista.  But  Republicans  remarked  :  "If  we  should 
ever  be  so  foolish  as  to  build  a  new  palace  on  that 
spot  and  assign  it  as  a  residence  to  some  President, 
he  would  soon  want  to  become  our  King  or  Emperor. 
Even  if  we  should  build  a  museum  there  it  would 
fire  somebody's  ambition.  It  is  best  to  let  the  ruins 
remain  as  they  are — an  object-lesson  to  all  would-be 
majesties." 

For  a  considerable  time  the  dark  bare  walls 
remained,  indeed,  much  as  they  became  on  the 
Commune's  downfall.*  I  had  opportunities  of 

*  A  full  account  of  the  destruction  of  the  palace  will  be  found  iii  my 
book  '  The  Court  of  the  Tuileries,'  and  the  subject  is  also  dealt  with  in  the 
volume  which  I  called  '  My  Adventures  in  the  Commune.' 


AFTER  THE  COMMUNE  15 

visiting  the  lugubrious  remains  on  various  occasions, 
when,  looking  around  and  above  me,  I  tried  to 
identify  the  little  that  remained  of  one  or  another 
particular  room  known  to  me  in  my  early  youth. 
And  more  than  once  I  thought  of  Volney  and  his 
melancholy,  half-forgotten  masterpiece, c  Les  Ruines.' 
At  last  the  scarred,  sinister-looking  shell  of  the  gutted 
palace  was  demolished — only  the  corner  Pavilion 
de  Flore,  overlooking  the  Seine,  being  restored — and 
the  site  gradually  became  such  as  it  is  to-day. 

The  principal  buildings  of  the  Palais  Royal, 
in  which,  before  the  war,  Prince  Napoleon  Jerome 
had  long  resided,  were  re-edified,  and  assigned  for  the 
time  being  to  the  Council  of  State ;  and,  on  the 
Quai  d'Orsay,  that  somewhat  coquettish-looking 
structure,  the  Palace  of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  rose 
once  more  from  its  ashes.  But  its  neighbour,  the 
square,  lofty,  many-windowed  Court  of  Accounts, 
continued  during  several  years  to  rear  beside  the 
Seine  its  gaunt,  charred  outer-walls  which,  even 
in  Imperial  days,  had  looked  singularly  unpre- 
possessing, suggesting,  indeed,  that  the  building 
was,  at  the  best,  merely  a  military  barracks.  The 
interior,  however,  of  this  big  rectangular  pile,  where 
the  national  accounts  of  France  were  audited,  had 
contained  some  fine  decorations,  fresco  paintings 
and  others,  together  with  a  magnificent  staircase. 

But  this  conspicuous  edifice  had  never  been  a 
show  place.  Few  tourists  had  ever  visited  it,  and, 
as  for  the  Parisians,  only  those  whom  work  or 
business  called  thither,  crossed  its  threshold.  Passers 
seldom  raised  their  eyes  to  the  gaping  walls  which, 
as  time  went  by,  and  other  structures  were  restored, 
rebuilt  or  replaced,  became  the  sole  remaining 
mementoes  of  the  Commune's  orgy  of  incendiarism. 
One  day,  however,  a  botanical  enthusiast  was 
privileged  to  wander  among  the  debris,  to  examine 
the  many  plants  which  carpeted  the  space  behind 
the  gaunt  fa9ade,  to  climb,  by  means  of  a  ladder,  to 


16  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

divers  nooks  and  crannies,  and  identify  and  cata- 
logue the  growths  which  had  sprung  up  there.  He 
wrote  a  little  book  on  the  subject — its  title  and  his 
name  I  unfortunately  forget,  but  I  remember  that  he 
chronicled  various  curious  things  and  speculated 
as  to  how  it  happened  that  the  winds  of  heaven 
had  carried  thither  the  seeds  of  flora  unknown  else- 
where within  the  zone  of  Paris.  A  time  at  last  came, 
however,  when  the  wild  garden  of  these  ruins  was 
trampled  underfoot  and  obliterated,  when  beneath 
the  onslaught  of  many  pickaxes  the  lichens  and  the 
climbing  plants  fell  with  the  masonry  to  which  they 
had  attached  themselves,  and  were  carted  away  in 
order  that  a  new  pile — the  railway-station  known 
as  the  Gare  d'Orsay — might  be  raised  on  the  aban- 
doned spot  which  had  so  long  recalled  the  last  great 
Convulsion  of  Paris. 

I  have  said  that  the  Parisians  seldom  raised  their 
eyes  to  the  ruins  of  the  Cour  des  Comptes.  Nor, 
after  the  first  general  inspection,  in  which  everybody 
participated  subsequent  to  the  Commune's  down- 
fall, was  any  particular  attention  given  to  other 
traces  of  insurrectional  fury.  Every  now  and  again, 
whilst  the  work  of  rebuilding  proceeded,  some 
curiosity  was  displayed  on  the  removal  of  sundry 
hoardings  and  scaffoldings,  people  pausing  as  they 
passed  to  scrutinize  some  new  structure  and  decide 
whether  they  liked  it  better  than  the  former  one. 
But,  for  the  rest,  Paris  had  several  other  things  to 
think  about :  work,  money-making,  and,  in  par- 
ticular, amusement. 

The  reaction  which  usually  follows  a  period  of 
crisis  and  convulsion  set  in.  Relief  was  sought 
from  all  the  restraint  imposed  as  much  by  circum- 
stances as  by  governmental  measures.  The  tension 
had  been  so  great  and  so  prolonged.  When  the 
overstrung  nerves  of  Paris  relaxed  there  was  a  wide- 
spread desire  to  forget  those  successive  nightmares— 
the  German  siege  and  the  insurrection.  Peace 


17 

having  returned,  it  was  surely  allowable  to  taste 
la  joie  de  vivre  once  more.  Many  had  been  the  good 
resolutions  formed  during  days  of  stress  and  starva- 
tion. On  all  sides  melancholy  moralizers  had  ex- 
horted people  to  lead  strenuous,  frugal  lives  and 
forego  all  sorts  of  pleasures  in  the  future.  Some  folk, 
judging  by  their  language,  desired  to  make  Paris  a 
city  of  perpetual  gloom,  for  ever  doing  penance  in 
sackcloth  and  ashes. 

During  recent  times  we  likewise  have  heard  all 
sorts  of  prophecies,  have  been  confronted  by  all  sorts 
of  plans  to  be  carried  out  when  the  Great  World  War 
is  absolutely  over.  Whether  any  such  anticipations 
will  ever  be  realized  is  a  question  which  cannot  now 
be  determined.  We  have  to  wait  and  see ;  but 
personally  I  have  no  great  faith  in  the  sermonizers, 
the  prophets,  or  the  inventors  of  the  many  schemes 
which  are  being  devised  nowadays  for  universal 
regeneration.  Like  St.  Thomas,  I  shall  believe  when 
I  behold.  Looking  backward,  I  only  know  that 
the  many  predictions,  the  many  plans  by  which  one 
was  assailed  in  Paris  both  during  and  immediately 
after  the  war  of  1870-71,  never  attained  fulfilment. 
The  well-meaning  folk  to  whom  those  plans  and 
predictions  were  due,  neglected  to  take  into  account 
an  important  factor— human  nature,  which  is  essen- 
tially wayward. 

There  was  a  period  when  the  English  Puritans 
doubtless  imagined  that  they  had  established  among 
us  for  all  time— perforce  and  under  pain  of  the 
direst  penalties — a  kind  of  heaven  upon  earth,  an 
intensely  righteous  form  of  existence,  which  would 
for  ever  hold  in  check  those  abominations,  the  flesh 
and  the  devil.  But  all  at  once  came  the  so-called 
"  scandalous  years  of  jubilee,"  which  Pepys,  Evelyn 
and  Anthony  Hamilton  pictured  so  vividly.  The 
greater  the  restraint  imposed  and  the  greater  its 
enforced  duration,  the  more  violent  becomes  the 
succeeding  reaction.  The  Renaissance  was  but  an 

c 


18  PARTS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

explosion  of  human  nature  reasserting  itself  after 
long  subjection  to  narrow  religious  tenets.  The 
voice  which,  in  the  long  ago,  was  heard  calling  over 
the  waters  :  "  The  great  god  Pan  is  dead  !  "  spoke 
in  error.  Pan  slumbers  at  times,  but  he  does  not 
die.  He  is  with  us  still,  and  will  remain  with  us 
till  the  end. 

The  desire  to  forget  largely  inclines  people  to 
seek  amusement — distraction,  as  the  French  say — 
both  during  and  after  periods  of  stress.  It  must 
not  be  thought  that  Paris  was  all  gloom  and  horror 
and  savagery  during  the  Reign  of  Terror  in  1793. 
The  brothers  Goncourt  have  recorded  in  a  book  of 
theirs,  '  La  Societe  fran9aise  pendant  la  Revolution,' 
how  Paris  amused  itself  on  the  promenades  and  at 
the  theatres  during  that  period  when  human  life 
was  held  so  cheaply,  when  the  guillotine  was  always 
at  work,  sometimes  on  the  Place  de  la  Revolution, 
sometimes  at  the  Barriere  d'Enfer,  and  sometimes 
at  the  Barriere  du  Trone  ren verse.*  But  it  was 
particularly  after  the  fall  of  Robespierre  and  the 
Directory's  assumption  of  power  that  a  craving,  a 
positive  passion  for  enjoyment  set  in.  During  the 
Terror  people  sought  amusement  because  they  did 
not  want  to  think  about  what  was  happening,  or  to 
brood  over  the  possibility  of  being  suddenly  arrested 
and  consigned,  like  so  many  others,  to  the  bloody 
offices  of  executioner  Sanson. 

The  Terror  over,  people  wished  to  forget  all  about 
it,  and  as  the  Goncourts  have  shown  in  another  book, 
'  La  Societe  sous  le  Directoire,'  never  in  all  her 
history  had  Paris  been  so  gay  as  during  this  period 
when  the  country  was  rushing  at  top  speed  along 
the  high  road  to  bankruptcy — the  assignats,  nomin- 
ally secured  by  the  national  properties,  falling  and 
falling  in  value  until  they  became  virtually  worthless 

*  The  Place  de  la  Revolution  is  now  the  Place  de  la  Concorde ;  the 
Barriere  du  Tr6ne  is  the  Place  de  la  Nation.  The  Barriere  d'Enfer  was 
beyond  the  Boulevard  St.  Michel. 


AFTER  THE  COMMUNE  19 

scraps  of  paper.  Never  had  the  purchasing  power 
of  a  nations'  official  currency  dwindled  in  like  degree. 
Yet  those  same  days  when  your  coat  might  cost  you 
£1000  in  paper  money,  were  also  the  days  of  the 
incroydbles,  the  muscadins  and  the  merveilleuses,  the 
days  of  innumerable  public  ballrooms  and  gardens, 
and  many  theatres,  and  every  kind  of  entertainment 
and  show.  Paris  danced  and  sang  and  promenaded 
and  feasted  as  though  it  had  never  known  the  throes 
of  a  revolution.  There  were  plenty  of  nouveaux 
riches,  profiteers  who  had  utilized  the  Revolution 
to  make  big  fortunes,  and  who  flaunted  quite  as 
much  luxury  as  ever  the  farmers-general  of  the  old 
Regime  displayed.  There  were  also  the  women,  fair 
and  frail,  clad  in  the  costliest  and  most  fantastic 
raiment,  and  bedizened  often  with  jewels  which 
had  once  belonged  to  some  grande  dame  who  had 
perished  by  the  guillotine  simply  because  her  birth 
had  unluckily  made  her  an  aristocrat. 

The  Napoleonic  era  supervened  with  its  military 
triumphs  and  pageantry.  Guns  were  always  thunder- 
ing salutes  ;  standards  and  artillery  taken  from  one 
and  another  enemy  constantly  passed  along  the 
crowded  streets  amidst  universal  applause  ;  there 
were  the  festivities  of  the  Imperial  Coronation,  those 
attending  the  birth  of  the  King  of  Rome,  and 
many  others — festivities  spread  like  veneer  over 
many  submissive,  almost  inarticulate,  sufferings.  But 
reverses  followed.  Anxiety  increased  during  the 
famous  Campagne  de  France,  in  which  Napoleon's 
genius  at  last  proved  unavailing,  and  finally  the  awed 
Parisians  heard  the  sinister  booming  of  the  guns  of 
many  enemies.  The  battle  of  Montmartre  preceded 
capitulation.  That  was  in  1814.  No  attempt  at 
resistance  was  made  in  the  following  year  when, 
after  Waterloo,  Napoleon  abdicated  for  the  second 
time.  Strong  detachments  of  foreign  troops  occupied 
the  city  on  both  occasions.  Cossacks  at  one  time 
tethered  their  horses  in  the  Champs  Elysees.  A 


20  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Prussian  general  became  military  governor  of  the 
city.  Wellington  wisely  exercised  a  restraining 
influence  on  the  Germans  of  the  garrison. 

Meanwhile  the  British,  like  the  Russian  officers 
before  them,  were  mainly  intent  on  plunging  into 
the  pleasures  which  Paris  still  offered.  The  most 
varied  uniforms  thronged  the  Palais  Royal  galleries 
and  the  Boulevards.  Many  restaurants  and  cafes 
suddenly  acquired  European  fame.  The  Cafe  des 
Mille  Colonnes  and  the  restaurant  of  Les  Trois  Freres 
proven9aux  in  the  Palais  Royal  were  particularly 
patronized  by  British  officers  and  visitors.  The 
Hotel  Meurice  in  the  Rue  de  Rivoli  became  par 
excellence  the  aristocratic  English  hotel.  On  the 
Boulevards  the  Cafe  Anglais  arose  to  celebrity. 
Over  the  way  the  Cafe  Riche  and  the  Cafe  Hardy 
also  competed  for  the  patronage  of  English  milords. 
The  cuisine  of  those  establishments  was  excellent, 
but  the  charges,  for  those  times,  were  prodigious,  a 
circumstance  which  led  to  the  saying  :  "II  faut  etre 
riche  pour  diner  chez  Hardy,  et  hardi  pour  diner 
chez  Riche."  It  was  for  his  English  customers  that 
Hardy  first  provided  his  great  silver  gridiron  which 
afterwards  became  famous  in  Paris.  When  Hardy 
passed  away,  some  time  in  Louis-Philippe's  reign, 
I  think,  a  new  proprietor  had  the  iron  balconies  of 
the  house  gilded,  and  it  then  became  known  as  the 
Maison  doree.* 

In  those  days  of  1814-15,  most  of  the  Parisians 
were  on  amicable  terms  with  the  foreign  element, 
that  is  excepting  with  the  arrogant  and  predatory 
Prussians,  whom  Wellington  repeatedly  had  to 
check.  Naturally,  however,  Napoleon's  old  officers 
bitterly  resented  the  presence  of  any  of  their  former 
antagonists,  and  duels  became  frequent.  All  pro- 
hibitions were  defied,  "  meetings "  took  place  by 

*  Some  French  writers  have  called  it  the  Maison  d'Or,  but  that  was 
never,  I  think,  its  real  name.  At  all  events,  in  our  time  the  bill  slips 
(culditions)  always  bore  the  name  "  Maison  doree." 


AFTER  THE  COMMUNE  21 

stealth,  and  there  was  an  instance  when,  no  suitable 
spot  being  available,  an  encounter  between  a  French 
and  a  British  officer  took  place  in  a  closed  coach 
which  was  driven  slowly  up  and  down  until,  if  I 
remember  rightly,  both  of  the  antagonists  were 
mortally  stricken.  Apart,  however,  from  those 
"  affairs,"  which  so  often  ended  tragically,  life  in 
Paris  at  that  time  suggested  a  prolonged  carnival. 
There  was  the  usual  reaction  on  both  sides.  The 
wars  were  over,  anxieties  were  ended,  and  all  one 
had  to  think  of  was  to  eat,  drink  and  be  merry. 
Night  after  night  the  theatres  were  crowded,  the 
gold  of  many  states  rained  upon  the  tapis  verts  of 
the  gambling  hells  and  filled  the  purses  of  shop- 
keepers, or  passed,  for  a  moment,  to  the  frail  sister- 
hood who  thronged  the  wooden  galleries  of  the 
Palais  Royal.  It  was  then  that  "  Milord  "  Berkeley 
carried  off  the  fair  Regine,  and  that  Walter  Scott, 
according  to  some  accounts,  philandered  with  la  belle 
limonadiere. 

In  1871  the  German  occupation  was  restricted 
to  one  district  of  Paris  and  lasted  only  three  days. 
Thus  the  position  was  very  dissimilar.  There  was 
no  opportunity  for  the  intruders  to  have  "  a  good 
time."  They  could  only  induce  the  landlord  of  a 
Champs  Elysees  cafe  to  open  his  doors  and  supply 
them  with  refreshments.  The  place  was  wrecked 
by  indignant  people  after  their  departure.  A  few 
officers  certainly  contrived  to  slip  through  the  cordon, 
in  order  to  visit  the  Boulevards,  but  soon  had  to 
beat  a  hasty  retreat.  The  men  who  were  allowed 
to  enter  the  Tuileries  gardens,  where  they  decorated 
their  helmets  with  sprigs  of  laurel,  slunk  off  on  hearing 
the  threatening  growls  of  the  crowd  in  the  Rue  de 
Rivoli.  The  Communalist  insurrection  was  then 
already  brewing,  and  the  Parisians  generally  were 
in  no  amicable  mood,  for  bitter  as  gall  and  wormwood 
did  they  find  the  terms  of  the  Devil's  Peace. 


II 

THE  REVIVAL  IN  THE   SEVENTIES — THE  STAGE 

The  Completion  of  the  Grand  Opera — The  Paris  Theatres  and  their  Takings 
— The  Tax  on  Amusements — Theatricals  in  the  earlier  Seventies — 
— '  Tricoche  et  Cacolet ' — The  Death  of  Auber — '  L'Arlesienne '  and 
Bizet — Zola  and  Busnach — '  La  Fille  de  Madame  Angot ' — The 
"  Book  "  and  its  Authors — Siraudin's  Sweetmeats — Charles  Leeocq's 
Rise  to  Fame — Sardou  and  '  Le  Roi  Garotte ' — Jacques  Offenbach 
and  Naturalization — The  Case  of  Meyerbeer — Offenbach's  Chief 
Productions — Ccedes  and  '  Clair  de  Lune ' — "  First  Nights  "  in  Paris. 

THE  nerves  of  Paris  did  not  really  relax  until  some 
months  after  the  Commune.  Peace  had  become 
a  fait  accompli,  and  one  had  to  make  the  best  of  it 
pending  the  time  when  revanche  might  appear 
possible.  For  the  nonce,  however,  the  future  might 
take  care  of  itself,  and  so  Vogue  la  galere  I  became 
the  order  of  the  day.  Politicians,  of  course,  keenly 
followed  the  proceedings  of  the  National  Assembly 
which  sat  at  Versailles,  but  in  the  world  of  viveurs 
matters  of  that  kind  were  regarded  as  tres  embetants. 
The  theatres,  several  of  which  had  suffered  by  the 
Commune,  were  among  the  very  first  buildings 
to  be  repaired  and  renovated,  and,  curiously  enough, 
to  the  indignation  of  a  good  many  folk,  the  Govern- 
ment, whilst  doing  nothing  to  hasten  the  completion 
of  the  new  and  badly  needed  hospital  called  the 
Hotel-Dieu,  pressed  forward  the  completion  of  the 
new  Opera  House,  where  all  work  had  been  suspended 
since  the  outbreak  of  war  in  1870.  It  certainly  did 
not  seem  to  be  urgently  required,  for  Paris  still  had 
its  old  Opera  House  in  the  Rue  Le  Peletier,  but  this 
was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1873,  and,  meantime,  so 

22 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  23 

diligently  had  the  work  on  Charles  GarnierV  great 
structure  been  advanced,  that  within  two  more 
years  (January,  1875)  it  was  inaugurated  with  much 
pomp  and  ceremony.  The  new  Hotel  Dieu,  however, 
was  not  finished  until  1878,  when  the  old  one  was 
falling  to  ruins. 

The  war  and  the  insurrection  had  certainly 
brought  many  cruel  sufferings  to  members  of  the 
theatrical  profession.  A  number  of  promising  young 
actors  had  laid  down  their  lives  in  defence  of  France. 
Numerous  actresses  had  become  nurses.  Several 
had  died  in  obscure,  hungry  poverty.  During  the 
German  siege  the  only  entertainments  were  some 
occasional  concerts  and  recitations,  with  now  and 
again  the  performance  of  an  act  of  some  classic 
tragedy — the  proceeds  going  to  an  ambulance  or 
a  charitable  institution.  An  attempt  which  was 
made  to  revive  theatrical  life  as  soon  as  the  war 
ended  was  nipped  in  the  bud  by  the  Commune's 
advent.  Law  and  order  being  restored,  however, 
the  prospects  of  theatrical  enterprise  improved. 
The  Parisians  were  craving  for  their  favourite 
amusement.  The  stage  had  long  been  an  essential 
element  of  Parisian  life.  Without  it,  indeed,  Paris 
was  not  herself. 

I  find  one  of  the  Statistical  Annuals  of  France 
recording  that  in  1850  the  gross  receipts  of  the 
theatres  of  Paris  amounted  to  £328,000.  In  1864 
that  sum  was  doubled.  In  1867 — the  year  of  the 
great  Exhibition,  when  the  Second  Empire  was  at 
its  zenith — the  receipts  rose  to  £879,360.  A  drop 
afterwards  ensued,  as  was  only  to  be  expected,  but 
in  '69 — the  Empire's  last  complete  year — the  very 
respectable  figure  of  £608,000  was  attained.  The 
war  with  Germany  began  in  the  summer  of  '70, 
and  that  year  the  receipts  fell  to  £324,280.  During 
the  next  twelve  months  (which  covered  the  period 
of  the  Commune  and  the  time  given  to  repairs, 
the  recruiting  of  companies,  and  a  great  deal  of  other 


24  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

preparatory  work)  the  gross  takings  were  no  more 
than  £228,600.  Wonderful,  however,  was  the  differ- 
ence in  1872,  when  they  rose  to  £645,000. 

During  the  five  years,  1873-77,  they  averaged 
£784,000  ;  in  the  next  five  years  they  amounted  to 
about  £1,040,000  per  annum.  From  1883  to  1892 
they  were  not  quite  so  considerable.  Until  this 
time  the  returns  had  taken  no  account  of  a  number 
of  cafe-concerts  and  other  places  of  amusement, 
such,  for  instance,  as  public  balls;  but  from  1893 
onward  the  returns  cover  all  amusements  excepting 
occasional  fairs  with  their  show  booths,  and  sundry 
isolated  performances.  The  annual  averages  are : 
1893  to  1897  inclusively,  £1,184,000  ;  1898  to  1902, 
£1,544,000  ;  1903  to  1907,  £1,680,000  ;  and  1908  to 
1912,  £2,228,000.  The  receipts  have  always  been 
larger  in  Exhibition  years  than  in  others.  In  1878, 
when,  as  George  Augustus  Sala  phrased  it,  Paris 
had  become  herself  again,  they  rose  from  about 
£840,000  to  over  £1,224,000.  That  figure  was  sur- 
passed by  about  £60,000  during  the  next  Exhibition 
vear,  1889.  In  1900  the  receipts  were  only  a  fraction 
less  than  £2,317,000.  In  1913— the  last  complete 
year  before  the  Great  War — they  amounted  to 
£2,738,080. 

The  latest  detailed  figures  which  have  been 
issued  are  those  for  1912.  Taking  first  the  houses 
favoured  with  subventions,  the  Opera's  receipts  then 
amounted  to  about  £130,600,  those  of  the  Comedie 
Frangaise  to  £104,180,  those  of  the  Opera  Comique 
to  £124,660,  and  those  of  the  Odeon  to  £40,230. 
Other  theatres  with  large  takings  that  same  year, 
were  the  Varietes,  about  £72,100 ;  the  Chatelet, 
nearly  £67,400  ;  the  Porte  Saint-Martin,  £64,400  ; 
the  Gymnase,  nearly  £57,000 ;  the  Vaudeville, 
about  £56,800  ;  Apollo,  £55,000  ;  the  Theatre  Sarah 
Bernhardt,  roughly  £54,100;  the  Gaite,  £52,120; 
and  the  Palais  Royal,  £47,450.  The  receipts  of 
several  other  theatres — the  Athenee,  the  Renaissance, 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  25 

the  Theatre  Antoine,  for  instance — ranged  from 
£35,000  to  £40,000.  Further,  in  that  same  year 
the  Folies-Bergere  took  £76,500  ;  Olympia,  £64,133  ; 
the  Alhambra,  £57,000  ;  the  Moulin  Rouge  (apart 
from  the  dancing  hall),  £42,870,  the  dancing  yielding 
over  £9,000  ;  Magic  City  (dancing  apart),  £86,000  ; 
the  Hippodrome  Cinema,  over  £56,800 ;  Pathe- 
Palace,  above  £30,400 ;  *  the  Nouveau  Cirque,  nearly 
£30,000  ;  the  Cirque  Medrano,  £22,700  ;  La  Cigale, 
£39,560  ;  Ba-ta-clan,  £33,240  ;  the  Scala,  £26,660  ; 
and  Mayol's  nearly  £24,000.  Tabarin  headed  the 
lists  of  public  balls  with  receipts  exceeding  £13,400, 
those  of  the  Bal  Bullier  being  but  a  third  of  that 
amount.  Indeed  all  the  public  balls  in  Paris  took 
little  more  than  £44,000,  evidencing  a  very  consider- 
able change  in  public  tastes.  Meanwhile  the  Con- 
certs Colonne  realized  about  £8,300,  the  Concerts 
Lamoureux  about  £7,670 ;  and  the  Concerts  du 
Conservatoire  a  trifle  less  than  £5,400.  Altogether 
about  a  hundred  and  fifty  places  of  amusement 
figured  in  the  official  returns,  which  included  also 
various  exhibitions  held  in  Paris  that  year. 

It  is  well  known  that  a  poor-rate  is  levied  on  all 
Parisian  places  of  entertainment.  It  was  this  indeed 
which  suggested  our  own  amusement  tax,  which  is 
appropriated,  however,  by  the  State.  The  French 
tax  originated  in  a  law  which  was  devised  at  the  time 
of  the  Directory  and  which  was  modified  and  extended 
by  later  enactments.  The  total  yield  of  the  so-called 
droit  des  pauvres  in  Paris  during  1912  was,  in  round 
figures,  £284,640.  The  tax  is,  in  practice,  one  of 
9*09  per  cent,  on  the  gross  receipts  of  all  theatres, 
ordinary  concerts,  games  of  chance,  divertissements 
and  other  spectacles  ;  of  15  per  cent,  on  the  gross 
receipts  of  all  public  dancing  places  ;  f  of  5  per  cent, 
on  the  receipts  of  concerts  given  for  the  benefit  of 
performers,  and  on  those  of  charity  fetes  which  are 

*  Nearly  £274,000  were  taken  by  26  "picture-palaces." 
t  The  law  allows  a  maximum  tax  of  25  per  cent. 


26  PARIS   AND  HER  PEOPLE 

not  for  the  benefit  of  Parisians ;  whilst  only  one 
per  cent,  is  levied  in  the  case  of  entertainments 
given  by  friendly  societies  and  of  those  which  are 
held  for  the  relief  of  Parisian  poor,  whether  of  French 
or  of  foreign  birth. 

But  I  must  now  revenir  d  mes  moutons.  Small 
as  were  the  theatrical  receipts  in  1871,  the  year  of 
the  Commune,  some  notable  pieces  were  then 
produced.  For  instance,  Jules  Verne's  *  Round  the 
World  in  80  Days '  was  then  first  placed  upon  the 
stage ;  and  Alexandre  Dumas  fils — whose  father  had 
died  in  the  midst  of  the  war  the  previous  year,  and 
who,  although  already  conspicuous  as  a  dramatic 
author,  was  to  rise  to  a  yet  more  commanding  position 
in  connection  with  the  French  stage — gave  us  both 
'  La  Visite  de  Noces '  and  '  La  Princesse  Georges.' 
Very  different  from  these  was  that  farcical  satire 
on  Parisian  private  inquiry  agencies  which  Henri 
Meilhac  and  Ludovic  Halevy  (then  best  known  as 
Offenbach's  customary  librettists)  called  '  Tricoche 
et  Cacolet.'  This  highly  amusing  piece  occupies 
quite  an  outstanding  position  among  French  farces. 
The  names  of  Tricoche  and  Cacolet  have  passed 
into  the  French  language  like  the  names  of  some  of 
Henri  Monnier's  creations,  Monsieur  Prudhomme, 
Jean  Hiroux,  and  Madame  Gibou,  like  Eugene  Sue's 
Pipelet  and  Cabrion,  and  Antier  and  Saint- Arnand's 
Robert  Macaire  and  Bertrand.  Judging  by  some 
of  Ludovic  Halevy's  later  writings,  notably  '  La 
Famille  Cardinal,'  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
'  Tricoche  et  Cacolet '  was  principally  his  work. 

I  cannot  recall  any  notable  musical  piece  of 
1871.  I  only  remember  the  funeral  of  Auber  that 
year.  A  very  long  and  distinguished  career  lay 
behind  the  composer  of  '  La  Muette  de  Portici ' 
and  '  Fra  Diavolo.'  I  believe  that  '  Le  Premier 
Jour  de  Bonheur,'  produced  in  1868,  was  his  last 
work.  *  La  Muette,'  which  made  him  famous,  dates 
back  to  1828.  He  was  a  Norman,  born  at  Caen  in 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  27 

1782,  and  being  endowed  with  a  fine  memory,  could 
recall  many  incidents  of  the  Great  Revolution. 
To  have  described  him  as  a  grand  old  man  in  his 
last  years  would  have  been  an  error.  His  appearance 
did  not  suggest  advanced  age.  Down  to  the  end  of 
the  Second  Empire,  when  he  was  often  to  be  met  on 
the  Boulevards,  holding  himself  erect  in  his  grey 
frock-coat,  he  retained  a  sprightliness  and  grace  of 
manner  which  was  in  keeping  with  much  of  his 
music. 

With  the  year  1872  a  revival  in  musical  matters 
began.  Georges  Bizet,  a  Parisian  by  birth  though 
he  belonged,  I  think,  by  descent  to  the  South  of 
France,  contributed  some  scenic  music — symphonies 
and  choruses — to  a  melodrama  called  '  L'Arlesienne,' 
the  work  of  Alphonse  Daudet,  who  was  then  in  his 
thirty-second  year  and  had  but  a  small  bagage 
litteraire  behind  him.  The  play  *  L'Arlesienne '  was 
founded  on  the  story  of  that  name  which  figures  in 
the  '  Lettres  de  mon  Moulin.'  Bizet,  at  this  time, 
was  known  chiefly  as  the  composer  of  the  '  Pecheurs 
de  Perles'  and  the  *  Jolie  Fille  de  Perth.'  The 
first  (1863),  whilst  containing  some  charming  passages, 
was  of  no  conspicuous  merit.  The  second  (1867), 
based  on  Scott's  'Fair  Maid  of  Perth,'  supplied 
evidence  of  progress  on  the  composer's  part,  and 
gamed  some  measure  of  popularity  in  Paris.  Sir 
Thomas  Beecham  made  it  known  to  Londoners 
during  the  recent  war,  but  it  would  not  appear 
to  have  been  received  here  with  much  appreciation. 
As  for  the  incidental  music  to  '  L'Arlesienne,'  this 
was  often  striking ;  but  Bizet's  triumph  with  'Carmen' 
did  not  come  until  1875,  and  he  did  not  live  to  enjoy 
it,  for  the  first  reception  of  '  Carmen '  was  very 
mixed,  and  the  composer  died  that  same  year — 
then  being  but  seven-and-thirty  years  of  age. 

It  was  in  1872  that  Henri  Litolff,  whom  I  knew 
very  well  (he  was  by  birth  a  Londoner),  produced 
his  graceful  operette-bouffe,  '  Heloise  et  Abelard,' 


28  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

the  "  book  "  being  by  old  Clairville  and  young  William 
Busnach.  Of  the  former  I  shall  soon  have  some- 
thing to  say  ;  respecting  the  latter  I  may  at  once 
mention  that  he  became  the  adapter  of  several  of 
Zola's  novels,  sometimes  accomplishing  this  work 
entirely  himself,  and  sometimes  working  en  collabora- 
tion with  Zola.  The  latter 's  earlier  personal  attempts 
to  write  for  the  stage  had  resulted  in  dismal  failure. 
Busnach  possessed,  however,  what  Zola  lacked — a 
real  sens  de  la  scene,  and  although  one  cannot  ascribe 
to  him  entirely  the  success  of  the  dramatic  versions 
of  Zola's  writings, — for  that  success  was  largely 
promoted  by  the  prodigious  circulation  of  the  works 
in  their  form  as  novels — 1  am  distinctly  of  opinion 
that  the  plays  would  have  proved  far  less  able  had 
they  been  prepared  exclusively  by  Zola  himself.* 
The  art  of  play-writing  differs  so  greatly  from  that 
of  novel-writing  that  few  writers  have  excelled  in 
both  these  branches  of  literature. 

Zola  was  responsible  for  the  scenario  of  '  Messidor,' 
composed  by  Alfred  Bruneau,  but  when  the  latter 
conceived  the  idea  of  transferring  '  Le  Reve '  to 
the  lyric  stage,  the  preparation  of  the  "  book  "  was 
wisely  entrusted  to  Louis  Gallet,  an  expert  who  had 
prepared  the  libretti  of  many  successful  operatic 
works.  Zola,  by  the  way,  was  drawn  more  and  more 
towards  the  stage  during  his  last  years,  perhaps 
for  the  very  reason  that  he  had  never  reaped 
any  personal  success  from  his  theatrical  attempts. 
After  the  famous  Dreyfus  case,  when  he  was  un- 
doubtedly unpopular  in  several  sections  of  Parisian 
society,  and  had  therefore  reason  to  fear  a  hostile 
reception  for  any  work  of  his  that  might  be  staged, 
he  conceived  the  idea  of  writing  the  libretto  of  an 
opera  which  Bruneau  was  to  have  undertaken, 

*  Born  in  Paris  in  1832,  Busnach  was  of  Arab  extraction,  his  father 
having  been  a  minister  of  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  who  Bought  refuge  in  France. 
Bu&nach  wrote  from  30  to  40  pieces  or  libretti  and  founded  in  1867  the 
Athenee  Theatre. 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  29 

and  which  was  to  have  been  produced,  in  the  first 
instance,  either  at  Brussels  or  in  London.  In  the 
latter  event  I  was  to  have  prepared  an  English  version 
of  the  book.  But  nothing  came  of  the  project, 
owing  to  Zola's  sudden  death. 

I  have  merely  mentioned  Litolff  en  passant. 
I  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  him  again.  I  must 
now  speak  of  what  was  really  the  musical  event  of 
1872 — that  is  the  production  of  '  La  Fille  de  Madame 
Angot.'  The  present  generation  can  have  no  idea 
of  the  overpowering  success  of  that  famous  comic 
opera.  It  came  precisely  at  the  moment  when  it 
was  wanted.  It  cried  "  Begone,  dull  care  !  "  to  all 
the  Parisians.  It  set  the  ball  of  pleasure  rolling  once 
more  as  it  had  rolled  during  the  days  of  Napoleon  III. 
Well-meaning  people  sighed  and  said :  "  Voila  le 
carnaval  de  1' empire  qui  recommence  !  "  but  Paris 
generally  felt  that  a  "  good  time  "  was  due  to  it 
after  all  its  sufferings  ;  and  I  shall  be  much  surprised 
if  London  does  not  experience  a  similar  feeling  when 
"controllers"  are  no  more. 

I  do  not  know  whether  the  idea  of  the  book  of 
'  La  Fille  de  Madame  Angot '  occurred  first  to  the 
composer,  Charles  Lecocq,  or  to  one  of  those  who 
prepared  the  "  book."  But  the  idea  was  truly  an 
inspiration  of  genius.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  scenario  is  laid  in  those  very  days  of  the  Directory 
which  I  previously  recalled,  days  when  Paris,  sur- 
feited with  revolutionary  atrocities,  turned  once 
more,  and  very  hungrily,  to  la  joie  de  vivre — even 
as  people  were  turning  to  it  in  1872.  That  did  not 
altogether  exclude  politics  from  the  general  purview, 
but  the  political  situation  in  '72  was  such  that  nobody 
knew  if  the  Republic  would  last  or  whether  a  King 
would  be  imposed  on  France  by  a  majority  of  the 
baldheaded  and  generally  unprepossessing  old  gentle- 
men who  belonged  to  the  National  Assembly  at 
Versailles.  Similar  doubts  as  to  the  future  had 
prevailed  at  the  time  of  the  Directory,  which  was 


30  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

essentially  a  transitional  regime,  marked,  like  the 
present  Republic  at  its  outset,  by  no  little  intrigue 
and  conspiracy.  Briefly,  '  La  Fille  de  Mme.  Angot ' 
was  precisely  a  piece  for  the  time.  The  censorship 
struck  several  topical  references  out  of  the  book, 
and  banned  one  of  the  duets,  but  the  rest  remained 
sufficiently  suggestive  for  the  Parisians,  who  have 
always  been  quick-witted  in  matters  of  political 
allusion. 

The  authors  of  the  book  were  three  in  number, 
and  it  is  a  question  as  to  which  of  them  most 
credit  should  be  ascribed.  Two  were  old  hands  at 
this  kind  of  work.  Born  at  Lyons  in  1811,  Louis- 
Frangois  Clairville  had  for  many  years  rained  books 
of  operettas,  revues,  feeries,  etc.,  upon  the  composers 
and  managers  of  Paris.  Paul  Siraudin  was  Clair- 
ville's  junior  by  two  years,  and  a  Parisian  by  birth. 
Less  prolific  than  his  senior  collaborator,  he  enjoyed 
a  greater  reputation  for  wit.  I  cannot  recall  under 
what  circumstances  this  amuseur  des  boulevards 
established  a  sweet-stuff  shop,  but  establish  one 
he  did,  and  it  became  renowned  all  the  world  over. 
It  stood  at  one  corner  of  the  Rue  de  la  Paix  and  the 
Place  Vendome,  and  Siraudin's  name  still  appeared 
above  it  long  after  he  had  sold  the  business  to  a 
M.  Reinhardt,  who,  in  spite  of  his  German  name,  was, 
I  believe,  a  born  Frenchman,  possibly  from  Alsace. 
Every  year,  at  the  period  of  the  great  gift-giving 
Jour  de  TAn,  otherwise  the  first  of  January,  the 
Siraudin  establishment  produced  a  new  sweetmeat, 
baptized  by  some  topical  name,  which  was  frequently 
derived  from  a  successful  theatrical  piece. 

Siraudin's  shop  had  but  one  real  rival,  Boissier's, 
which  worked  on  similar  lines  but  specialized  more 
particularly  in  "chocolates."  At  both  houses  you 
were  served  by  young  ladies  selected  for  their  beauty, 
and  bright  eyes  and  smiling  lips  often  encouraged 
one  to  deeds  of  great  extravagance.  The  sweet- 
meats themselves  might  not  cost  very  much,  new 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  31 


"  creations  "  varying  from  ten  to  twenty  francs  a 
pound,  but  they  required  fitting  receptacles,  a  casket- 
like  box  or  a  daintily  embroidered  silken  bag,  and 
as  there  was  no  limit  to  the  cost  of  these  adjuncts, 
a  real  void  in  your  purse  often  followed  a  visit  to 
one  or  another  of  the  confiseurs  d  la  mode.  But  you 
had  a  first  reward  in  a  bright  smile  and  a  tender  glance 
from  the  demoiselle  who  served  you,  and  a  second  in 
the  reception  accorded  to  your  gift  by  its  recipient — 
sometimes  the  fair  lady  of  your  heart,  at  others  the 
maiden  aunt  from  whom  you  had  expectations. 

Siraudin  proved  that  he  was  an  homme  d' esprit 
by  founding  his  alluring  business.     1  am  inclined  to 
credit  him  with  a  good  deal  of  the  wit  which  may 
be  found  in  the  book  of  'La  Fille  de  Mme.  Angot.' 
There  was,  however,  a  third  author,  Victor  Koning,  a 
much  younger  man,  who  had  before  him  a  stormy 
career  of  notoriety  and  misfortune  which  unhappily 
ended  in  madness.     To  Koning,   I  think,  the  first 
idea  of  the  piece  may  have  occurred.     I  am  not 
certain  whether  Mme.   Angot  ever  really  existed, 
but  her  name  had  certainly  been  transmitted  from 
the  Directory  period  as  that  of  a  typical  low-born 
woman  who    suddenly  becomes  wealthy  and   who, 
amidst  luxurious  surroundings  and  the  pretensions 
which  wealth  inspires,  retains  her  original  coarse 
tastes  and  speech.     A  somewhat  similar  idea  will  be 
found  underlying  Sardou's   '  Madame  Sans   Gene.' 
For  the  rest,  Barras  and  Larivaudiere  are  certainly 
historical    personages.     Ange    Pitou    really    lived, 
besides  figuring  in  one  of   Dumas'   novels,   whilst 
Mile.  Lange  actually  graced  the  stage  in  the  Direc- 
tory's gay  days. 

Charles  Lecocq,  the  composer,  was  a  Parisian 
in  his  fortieth  year,  and,  until  his  triumph  at  the 
Folies  Dramatiques,  had  been  esteemed  chiefly 
by  members  of  his  own  profession.  From  that 
time  onward,  however,  he  became  for  several  years 
one  of  the  favourite  composers  of  the  Parisians.  In 


32  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

'74  he  gave  us  the  gay  and  sprightly  '  Girofle-Girofla.' 
In  '75  came  '  La  Petite  Mariee,'  which  was  full  of 
charm.  In  '78 — the  year  of  the  first  International 
Exhibition  after  the  war — '  Le  Petit  Due,'  with  its 
graceful  music,  filled  the  auditorium  of  the  Bouffes 
Parisiens  every  night.  During  the  following  year 
'  La  jolie  Persane,'  melodious  and  rhythmical,  had 
its  turn.  '  Le  Jour  et  la  Nuit,'  with  its  really  amusing 
book,  followed  in  '81,  and  '  Le  Cceur  et  la  Main,' 
held  by  some  to  be,  musically,  the  composer's  best 
work,  in  the  ensuing  year.  Meilhac  and  Halevy 
supplied  the  book  of  '  Le  Petit  Due,'  Charles  Nuitter 
(archivist  and  librarian  of  the  Grand  Opera)  that  of 
*  Le  Coaur  et  la  Main,'  and  Leterrier  and  Vanloo  the 
others. 

At  the  time  when  *  La  Fille  de  Madame  Angot ' 
was  coining  gold  at  the  Folies  Dramatiques,*  the 
Chatelet  Theatre  held  a  success  with  a  diverting  ex- 
travaganza perpetrated  by  Victorien  Sardou  and 
entitled  '  Le  Roi  Garotte.'  Some  of  the  antiques 
of  Versailles  who  wished  to  bestow  a  King  on  France 
were  scandalized  by  such  an  appellation  as  King 
Carrot,  regarding  it  as  a  reflection  upon  royalty. 
Sardou  may  well  have  had  such  an  intention, 
for  he  did  not  hesitate  to  "  stage  "  his  antipathies— 
as  witness  '  Rabagas,'  his  satire  on  Gambetta,  which 
was  produced  that  same  year,  1872.  I,  myself, 
however,  did  not  detect  much  that  could  really  be 
construed  as  political  allusion  in  '  Le  Roi  Garotte  '- 
that  is  in  the  form  it  took  on  the  stage,  for,  of  course, 
it  had  been  previously  subjected  to  the  blue  pencil 
of  Anastasie,  as  the  Parisians  called  the  Censorship. 
The  piece  was  full  of  tuneful  music,  and  this  music 
was  by  one  who  then  ranked  as  the  premier  composer 
of  Parisian  operettas — Jacques  Offenbach. 

Offenbach  was  by  birth  a  German  Jew,  a  native  of 
the  city  of  eleven  thousand  virgins,  one  perfume,  and 

*  Early  in  '72.    It  was  first  produced  late  the  previous  year  at  Brussels, 
and  then  transferred  to  Paris.     Lecocq  died  in  the  autumn  of  1918 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  33 

a  thousand  evil  smells,  otherwise  Cologne,  where  he 
was  born  in  1819.  But  he  was  also  a  naturalized 
French  citizen,  and  he  had  come  to  regard  him- 
self as  thoroughly  French,  thoroughly  Parisian.  I 
believe  his  sympathies  were  entirely  with  France 
during  the  Franco- German  war,  but  he  had  some 
apprehensions  respecting  his  naturalized  status, 
though  he  had  lived  in  Paris  since  1833.  I  am 
inclined  to  class  him  with  Heine  and  Meyerbeer. 
The  former,  we  know,  detested  Prussia,  and  spent 
the  latter  part  of  his  life  in  France.  The  second, 
though  by  birth  a  Berlinese,  identified  himself  with 
the  French  operatic  stage.  The  "  books "  of  his 
famous  productions,  'Robert  le  Diable'  (1831),  'Les 
Huguenots'  (1836),  'LeProphete'  (1849),  'L'Etoile 
du  Nord'  (1854),  and  '  L' Af ricaine '  (1865),  were 
provided  by  that  prolific  and  versatile  purveyor  of 
virtually  every  branch  of  French  dramatic  writing- 
Eugene  Scribe ;  and  Michel  Carre  and  Jules  Barbier 
supplied  that  of  the  'Pardon  de  Ploermel,'  which 
we  call  '  Dinorah.'  Like  Heine,  Meyerbeer  died  in 
Paris — 1864,  the  year  preceding  the  production  of 
*  L'Af ricaine.'  What  his  line  of  conduct  would  have 
been  had  he  lived  through  the  Franco-German  War, 
one  cannot  say,  but  it  is  difficult  to  regard  as  an 
"  alien  enemy  "  one  who  lived  so  many  years  in 
France,  derived  from  her  so  much  of  his  inspiration, 
and  lavished  his  art  upon  her. 

The  question  of  the  sympathies  which  nationality 
derived  from  blood  and  birthplace  is  said  to  carry 
with  it,  is  at  times  a  very  perplexing  one  to  solve. 
If  we  subscribe  to  the  proposition  "  Once  a  German 
always  a  German,"  we  must  accept  the  formula 
"  Once  an  Englishman  always  an  Englishman," 
and  if  that  were  true,  how  should  we  account  for  all 
the  thousands  of  our  countrymen  who,  in  our  own 
time,  have  emigrated  to  the  United  States  and 
become  good  American  citizens  ?  Let  us  suppose 
that  the  United  States  had  joined  Germany  against 

D 


34  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

us.  It  is,  I  know,  a  preposterous  idea,  but  I  take  it 
that  if  the  American  Government  had  decided  to 
make  war  on  us,  most  English-born  Americans  would 
have  accepted  the  decision  of  their  new  country, 
even  as  most  German  Americans  also  accepted  it. 
I  put  the  case  broadly,  well  aware  that  there  are 
exceptions  to  virtually  every  rule,  and  that  there  are 
people,  who,  whilst  assuming  a  new  nationality, 
still  give  most  of  their  sympathies  to  the  old  one. 
For  that  reason,  a  Government  which  becomes 
involved  in  war  is  bound  to  take  all  necessary  pre- 
cautions in  regard  to  its  subjects  or  citizens  who 
originally  belonged  to  an  enemy  state.  It  seems 
to  me  that  most  countries  ought  to  overhaul  their 
laws  of  naturalization,  and  that  in  Great  Britain 
we  might  revert  to  the  old-time  system  of  royal 
letters  of  denization  in  regard  to  all  foreigners. 
Denization  conferred  a  right  of  domicile  during  good 
behaviour,  but  without  any  political  or  similar 
rights.  Naturalization  (essentially  a  modern  in- 
stitution) should  only  be  granted  after  a  fairly  long 
term  of  denization,  which  ought  also  to  be  preceded 
by  a  probationary  period.* 

*  I  have  not  space  here  to  dwell  on  the  French  system,  but  except  in 
special  cases  it  was  formerly  the  rule  only  to  grant  naturalization  after  a 
foreigner  had  obtained  permission  to  fix  his  domicile  in  France  and  had 
been  of  good  behaviour  for  some  years.  Until  1881  very  few  foreigners 
were  naturalized  in  France.  From  1876  to  1880  the  number  was  only 
214  ;  but  563  acquired  the  privilege  of  domicile  during  that  period.  Since 
1887,  when  the  number  of  naturalizations  was  1522,  with  3074  autorisations 
de  domicile,  the  figures  have  varied  in  a  curious  fashion,  increasing  to  5984 
naturalizations  in  1890,  falling  gradually  to  1910  in  1900,  and  then  again 
rising  gradually  to  3563  in  1911,  the  last  year  for  which  complete  returns 
are  available.  During  the  last  two  decades,  from  1890  onward,  owing  to 
increased  facilities  for  naturalization,  the  applications  for  the  right  of 
domicile  declined  to  a  few  hundreds  per  annum.  In  1911,  223  such 
applications  were  granted.  The  naturalizations  of  that  year  included 
1738  Italians  of  both  sexes  with  2445  children ;  1846  Belgians  of  both 
sexes  with  1515  children  ;  520  Spaniards  of  both  sexes  with  840  children  ; 
279  Russians  of  both  sexes  with  285  children ;  209  Swiss  of  both  sexes 
with  236  children;  73  English  of  both  sexes  with  74  children;  1195 
Alsatian-Lorrainera  with  795  children ;  and  the  following  Germans :  209 
men,  100  women,  194  children. 


35 

The  French  undoubtedly  accepted  Offenbach  as  a 
loyal  fellow-citizen.     Otherwise  it  would  have  been 
very   difficult,  if   not   impossible,   for  him  to  have 
continued   his  career  in   Paris   after   the  war,  par- 
ticularly as  he  became  less  and  less  indispensable 
as  a  purveyor  of  operettas,  for  quite  a  number  of 
French    musicians,    inspired    undoubtedly    by    the 
example  of  his  success,  now  came  more  and  more  to 
the  front,  threatening  his  quasi-sovereignty  in  the 
particular  branch  of  musical  art  to  which  he  owed 
his  fame.     In  those  days,   however,  .there  seemed 
to  be  ample  room  for  one  and  all,  provided  their 
work  were  good,  and  Offenbach,  for  his  part,  was 
never  more  active  than  in  the  years  following  the 
Franco- German  War.     Before  that  time  he  had  given 
us  notably  the  '  Mariage  aux  Lanternes,'  the  first 
version  of  '  Orphee  aux  Enfers,'  '  La  Belle  Helene, 
'  Barbe-Bleue,'    '  La   Vie   Parisienne,'    '  La    Grande 
Duchesse  de  Gerolstein,'  '  La  Perichole,'  and  '  Les 
Brigands,'    these   representing    a   period    of    about 
twelve  years.     He  died  in  1 880,  having  produced  since 
the  war  a  revised  and  enlarged  version  of  '  Orphee  aux 
Enfers,'  the  music  for  '  Le  Hoi  Garotte,'  '  La  Jolie 
Parfumeuse,'  '  Les  Cent  Vierges,'  '  Madame  1'Archi- 
duc,'  '  Madame  Favart,'  and  '  La  Fille  du  Tambour 
Major.'     Moreover   he   left   behind   him   the   well- 
known  and  admired  '  Contes  d'Hoffmann,'  which  was 
first  produced  in  the  year  following  his  death,  and 
in  which  he  made  a  very  notable  effort  to  excel  in 
music  of  genuine  artistry. 

The  foregoing  will  have  shown  that  Offenbach's 
last  years  were  busy  ones,  crowded,  moreover,  with 
successes  which  Paris  welcomed  without  a  thought 
that  the  composer  whom  she  applauded  was  a  native 
of  Rhenish  Prussia.  Reverting  to  that  matter,  let  it 
be  remembered  that  Offenbach  was,  like  Heine  and 
Meyerbeer,  a  Jew,  and  that  the  question  of  political 
nationality  may  have  seemed  to  him  of  secondary 
importance.  In  one  sense,  prior  to  the  '70  war,  he 


36  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

certainly  gave  some  indirect  encouragement  to  Prussia, 
for  c  La  Grande  Duchesse  ' — produced  in  the  Exhibi- 
tion year  of  1867,  when  royalties  crowded  the  Theatre 
des  Varietes  eager  to  laugh  and  enjoy  themselves— 
was  essentially  a  satire  on  the  petty  German  states 
which  Prussia  had  been  annexing  or  mediatizing 
since  her  victory  over  Austria.  There  is  a  story 
that  Bismarck,  who  was  in  Paris  that  year,  remarked 
to  a  high  French  personage :  "  We  are  getting  rid 
of  the  Gerolsteins,  there  will  soon  be  none  left.  I 
am  much  obliged  to  your  Parisian  artistes  for  showing 
the  world  how  ridiculous  they  were." 

I  have  always  understood  that  the  book,  by 
Meilhac  and  Halevy,  was  Offenbach's  own  idea. 
He  used  to  tell  amusing  stories  about  life  in  petty 
German  duchies  and  principalities ;  how,  for  instance, 
railway  trains  would  suddenly  stop  in  the  open 
country,  and  how  the  engine-driver  on  being  asked 
the  reason  for  this  unexpected  break  in  the  journey, 
would  reply  complacently :  "I  am  waiting  for  the 
washing  of  his  Serene  Highness  the  Grand  Duke  " 
—at  the  same  time  pointing  to  a  portly,  perspiring, 
basket-laden  female,  who  was  trying  to  hurry  across 
some  ploughed  fields. 

I  had  seen  Offenbach  on  various  occasions  before 
the  war,  and  afterwards  I  more  than  once  joined 
in  conversation  with  him.  I  can  readily  recall  his 
appearance.  He  seems  to  stand  before  me  still- 
short,  with  a  big  head,  a  hooked  nose,  a  gold  pince-nez, 
long  whiskers,  and  an  overcoat  whose  high  fur  collar 
gave  him  somehow  the  appearance  of  being  hunch- 
backed, which  was  not  the  case,  though  there 
was  certainly  some  slight  curvature  of  the  spine. 
The  maestro* s  general  appearance  was  undoubtedly 
Jewish,  but  nothing  about  him  suggested  affinity 
with  Germany.  His  sparkling  eyes,  his  extreme 
vivacity,  his  frequent  gesticulations,  his  almost 
dancing  walk,  were  all  incompatible  with  Teutonic 
phlegm.  I  remember  sitting  beside  him  one  night 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  37 

in  the  stalls  at  the  Folies  Dramatiques.  The  occasion 
was  the  first  performance  of  an  operetta  by  Coedes, 
who  was  or  had  been  chef  d*  orchestra  at  the  Grand 
Opera,  and  his  piece  bore  some  such  title  as  '  Clair 
de  Lune.'  The  composer  being  generally  regarded 
as  tres  sympathique,  everybody  in  the  audience  hoped 
to  witness  a  success.  Offenbach,  in  a  very  vivacious 
conversational  mood  on  his  arrival,  chatted  freely 
with  friends  and  acquaintances  until  the  overture 
began.  He  then  settled  himself  to  listen,  and 
throughout  the  first  act  made  no  sign  of  any  kind 
whatever.  The  piece  had  not  been  particularly 
well-staged,  but  that  was  not  of  much  moment.  The 
pity  was  the  music.  There  was  absolutely  nothing 
distinctive  about  it,  not  the  faintest  sign  of  any 
originality.  I  caught  Offenbach's  eye  during  the 
interval  after  the  first  act,  and  his  glance  was  extremely 
significant  of  compassion.  When,  however,  some- 
body remarked  to  him  that  there  was  nothing  notice- 
able in  the  partition  so  far,  he  replied  cheerily  : 
"  Sans  doute,  sans  doute,  pas  encore  !  Mais  il  faut 
attendre.  Nous  allons  voir !  " 

It  was  as  though  he  hoped  that  something  better 
might  ensue.  But  the  whole  piece,  unhappily, 
was  of  the  same  character  as  the  first  act.  At  one 
moment  Offenbach  made  a  slight  gesture  of  im- 
patience, then  sank  back  in  his  fauteuil  with  his  eyes 
half -closed  and  his  lips  closely  set.  Not  until  it  was  all 
over  did  he  explode,  and  then  it  was  more  by  gesture 
than  by  words  that  he  relieved  his  mingling  feel- 
ings of  anger  and  pity.  Everybody  hurried  away, 
eager  for  some  supper,  which  might  help  to  banish 
depression.  The  unfortunate  composer — le  mal- 
heureux,  Offenbach  called  him — had  not  even 
achieved  a  succes  d'estime  ;  his  piece  was  a  four,  a 
four  complet,  as  one  used  to  say.  I  cannot  recall 
exactly  how  many  performances  were  given,  but 
the  run  certainly  did  not  last  a  week.  For  my  part 
I  cannot  remember  a  more  lugubrious  "  first  night  " 
in  the  whole  of  my  theatre-going. 


38  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Some  "first  nights"  in  Paris  are  very  lively 
affairs,  even  when  the  piece  proves  a  failure.  The 
audience  often  includes  some  of  the  author's  or 
composer's  rivals  or  detractors — people  who  by 
reason  of  their  position  cannot  be  omitted  from  the 
invitations  to  the  function.  I  have  seen  men  of 
that  kind  maliciously  venting  their  delight  at  the 
failure  of  some  play  written  by  a  rival.  The  audi- 
torium may  contain  many  of  the  author's  real 
friends  who  are  genuinely  solicitous  for  the  welfare 
of  the  play  and  desirous  of  saving  it  from  disaster, 
but  during  the  intervals  between  the  acts  the  sarcastic 
remarks  and  the  contemptuous  laughter  ringing 
out  here  and  there,  effectually  silence  the  pleadings 
of  well-wishers.  Except  on  just  a  few  occasions, 
which  might  be  counted  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand, 
I  never  knew  nor  heard  of  an  organized  cabal  to 
wreck  a  piece,  but  I  have  often  observed  signs  of 
weakness  in  the  earlier  scenes  sufficing  to  damn  a 
play,  although  its  second  and,  generally,  crucial 
act  might  be  remarkably  good.  But  a  bad  first 
impression,  which  is  eagerly  seized  hold  of  by  the 
author's  enemies,  often  indisposes  the  audience  for 
the  rest  of  the  evening.  Of  Parisian  "  first-nighters  " 
generally  it  may  be  said  that  they  are  most  critical, 
not  unfair  but  distinctly  exacting.  Now  and  again, 
however,  when  a  favourite  author  does  not  quite 
attain  his  wonted  level,  he  is  in  a  measure  forgiven 
in  memory  of  previous  good  work,  and  a  succes 
d'estime  ensues.  This,  too,  is  at  times  the  portion 
of  a  newcomer,  whose  work,  though  immature,  is 
found  sufficiently  promising  to  warrant  encourage- 
ment to  another  effort.  Whilst,  however,  a  succes 
d'estime  is  a  salve  to  the  author's  feelings,  it  brings 
no  satisfaction  to  the  management,  which  realizes 
the  necessity  of  an  early  change  of  bill. 


Ill 

FARTHER  IN  THE  SEVENTIES — THE  MAID  OF  ORLEANS, 
SOME   LITERARY   MEN,   THE   STAGE   AGAIN 

The  Cult  of  Joan  of  Arc — Statues  and  Paintings  of  the  Maid— Walton's 
Book  about  her — Her  Association  with  the  Stage — More  Operettas 
of  the  Seventies — Emile  Gaboriau  and  his  Detective  Stories — F.  du 
Boisgobey — Thedphile  Gautier's  last  Days — Jules  Janin,  the  Prince 
of  Critics — Francisque  Sarcey — My  Excursions  into  Theatrical  and 
Music-hall  Life — Bizet's  '  Carmen ' — Henri  Litolfi  and  his  Failings — 
My  Connection  with  the  Folies-Bergere  and  the  Concert  de  1'Horloge. 

IT  was  perhaps  natural  that  after  the  disastrous  war 
with  Germany  French  patriotism  should  turn  for 
consolation,  as  it  were,  to  the  memory  of  Joan  of 
Arc.  To  my  thinking,  though  others  may  differ 
from  me,  French  art  has  never  produced  anything 
commemorative  of  the  immortal  Maid  that  can  be 
unhesitatingly  acclaimed  as  a  great  work,  such  as 
one  might  have  expected  the  thought  of  her  to  inspire. 
There  has  always  been  something  inadequate,  some- 
thing deficient  in  the  achievements  of  the  ablest 
French  sculptors,  though  many  disciples  of  sculptural 
art  have  exerted  themselves  to  give  us  an  effective 
presentment.  The  stamp  of  mediocrity  rests  cer- 
tainly on  the  bronze  statues  by  Gois  and  Foyatier 
which  are  supposed  to  adorn  the  city  of  Orleans. 
Though  Rude  was  a  very  great  artist,  one  cannot 
say  that  he  excelled  in  the  statue  of  the  Maid  which 
may  be  seen  at  the  Luxembourg  in  Paris.  Nor  is 
Chapu's  statue,  which  is  also  there,  and  which  dates 
from  1872,  a  masterpiece.  More  than  one  objection 
might  be  taken  to  Albert  Lefeuvre's  effort  in  1875. 
As  for  Fremiet  he  was  essentially  a  sculptor  of 

39 


40  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

animals,  and  thus,  in  regard  to  his  equestrian  statue 
of  Joan,  set  up  on  the  Place  des  Pyramides  in  Paris 
in  1874,  although  one  may  pass  a  fairly  favourable 
judgment  on  the  horse,  one  cannot  detect  in  the  figure 
that  bestrides  it  the  slightest  sign  of  inspiration. 
The  graceful  marble  statue  by  the  young  Princess 
Marie  of  Orleans,  who  became  Duchess  of  Wurtem- 
berg,  is  to  be  seen  at  the  Louvre,  and,  in  its  way, 
may  well  be  admired.  But  it  does  not  suggest  Joan 
the  Warrior  Woman.  Much  less  known  than  this 
familiar  work  is  an  equestrian  statuette  by  the 
Princess,  which  is  preserved  at  the  Hotel- de-Ville 
of  Orleans.  This  attempt  has  its  good  points,  and 
Louis-Philippe's  young  daughter  was  undoubtedly 
endowed  with  remarkable  talent,  which,  but  for  her 
untimely  death  when  she  was  only  twenty-six  years 
old,  might  have  resulted  in  yet  greater  work  than 
that  which  she  left  behind  her.  Of  the  equestrian 
statues  of  Joan,  the  one  by  Paul  Dubois  at  Reims 
is  (or  was  ?)  in  my  opinion  by  far  the  most  able. 

Several  years  ago  when  I  was  investigating  the 
career  of  Gilles  de  Rais* — one  of  the  Breton  Blue- 
beards and  for  a  time  attached  by  Charles  VII  to 
the  person  of  Joan  of  Arc — I  noticed  at  the  Orleans 
Museum,  whither  my  work  carried  me,  a  picture 
representing  the  Maid's  entry  into  the  city  after  its 
relief.  I  was  considerably  astonished  when  I  found 
that  this  canvas  was  ascribed  to  Fragonard.  I 
would  not  like  to  express  an  opinion  respecting  its 
authenticity  without  seeing  it  again  ;  but  I  wondered 
at  the  time  how  it  happened  that  the  painter  of  '  Le 
Serment  d' Amour '  and  'L'Escarpolette '  had  essayed 
an  historical  subject  so  foreign  to  his  talent.  I  need 
scarcely  add  that  the  picture,  however  clever  it 
might  be  in  its  way,  in  no  wise  supplied  an  adequate 
representation  of  the  scene  it  was  supposed  to  depict. 

*  My  book, '  Bluebeard  :  Cornorre  the  Cursed  and  Gilles  de  Rais,'  was 
published  by  Messrs.  Chatto  and  VVindus  in  1902,  but  has  long  been  out 
of  print. 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  41 

At  the  same  period,  on  the  staircase  of  the  museum 
of  Angers,  I  found  Eugene  Deveria's  Death  of  Joan 
of  Arc.  Delaroche's  picture. I  know  only  through 
the  engraving  made  of  it.  This  composition,  like 
Deveria's,  is  essentially  theatrical.  In  my  younger 
days  the  most  popular  presentment  of  Joan  was 
supplied  by  an  engraving  after  a  painting  by  Ingres, 
and  this  black-and-white  transcription  of  his  work 
was  more  satisfactory  than  the  original,  for  Ingres, 
though  an  impeccable  draughtsman,  was  no  colourist. 
In  1880  came  a  remarkable  and  greatly  discussed 
"  new  interpretation  "  of  the  Maid,  emanating  from 
Bastien-Lepage,  who  was,  like  her,  a  Lorrainer,  a 
native  of  the  Meuse  country.  Types  of  the  Meuse 
peasantry  frequently  figure  in  his  paintings.  It 
might  be  interesting  to  know  where  and  how  he 
found  the  model  for  his  much  criticized  Joan. 

Of  the  many  books  written  about  the  Maid  I 
will  mention  only  one,  and  that  for  a  particular  reason. 
It  was  the  work  of  Henri  Wallon,  the  father  of  the 
present  French  Constitution.  A  native  of  Valen- 
ciennes, a  Professor  for  some  years  at  the  Sorbonne 
in  Paris,  and  the  author  of  several  esteemed  historical 
works,  Wallon  *  became  in  1871  a  member  of  the 
National  Assembly,  and  three  years  later,  when  the 
subject  of  a  new  Constitution  was  under  discussion, 
and  there  was  much  heated  controversy  whether  the 
Government  should  or  should  not  be  formally 
declared  Republican — a  course  opposed  by  all  the 
deputies  who  desired  a  monarchical  restoration— 
under  these  circumstances,  1  say,  Wallon  solved  the 
difficulty  by  means  of  an  ingenious  amendment  which 
left  the  Republican  form  of  government  implied. 
A  proposal  that  the  Republic  should  be  expressly 
declared  had  previously  been  brought  forward  by 
Edouard  de  Laboulaye,  the  eminent  jurisconsult 
and  publicist,  but  was  defeated  by  a  majority  of 

*  His  name  bespoke  hia  origin.     He  belonged  to  the  Wallon,  or,  as  we 
say,  Walloon,  race,  which  predominates  in  south-eastern  Belgium. 


42  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

twenty-four  votes.  Even  Wallon's  amendment  only 
just  turned  the  scales,  being  adopted  by  a  majority 
of  one — that  is  his  own  vote  !  Thus  was  the  present 
French  regime,  merely  the  de  facto  form  of  govern- 
ment since  September,  1870,  formally  accepted, 
though,  of  course,  half  of  the  deputies  hoped  that  it 
would  prove  only  a  temporary  stop-gap. 

The  question  whether  France  was  "to  be  or  not 
to  be "  a  Republic  was  one  of  the  few  political 
subjects  in  which  Paris — apart  from  its  working-class 
faubourgs — took  a  real  interest  at  that  time.  It 
intruded  even  into  theatres,  gambling  clubs  and 
supper-rooms.  To  return,  however,  to  Wallon,  who 
afterwards  became  an  able  Minister  of  Education, 
his  book  on  the  Maid  of  Orleans  was  a  very  com- 
mendable piece  of  work,  and  has  probably  appealed 
more  tham  any  other  to  the  general  French  reader 
of  the  last  two  generations.  Even  scholars  cannot 
afford  to  neglect  it.  There  is  a  very  sumptuous 
edition,  beautifully  illustrated  with  plates,  repro- 
ductions of  famous  or  curious  paintings,  portraits, 
facsimiles,  etc.,  the  whole  forming  no  unworthy 
tribute  to  the  Maid's  memory. 

In  1873  was  produced  a  five-act  drama  on  Joan 
of  Arc  by  Jules  Barbier,  the  librettist  of  Gounod's 
'  Faust '  and  '  Romeo  et  Juliette, '  as  well  as  of 
Masse's  tuneful  '  Galatee.'  Gounod  composed  some 
music  for  Barbier's  drama,  which  was  expensively 
produced  and  had,  less  for  its  own  merits  than  by 
reason  of  its  subject,  some  measure  of  success.  Three 
years  later  an  author-composer  named  Mermet  tried 
to  capture  Paris  with  an  opera  on  the  Maid,  both 
libretto  and  music  being  his  own  work.  Again, 
however,  there  was  only  some  measure  of  success. 
It  is  curious  to  note  that  of  all  the  theatrical  pieces 
on  Joan  the  ablest  is  one  by  a  German — but  a  German 
of  genius,  Schiller,  whose  tragedy  on  the  great 
French  heroine  took  Leipzig  by  storm  in  the  first 
year  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Among  French 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  43 

operas,  directly  or  indirectly  connected  with  the 
Maid,  the  best  is  probably  Halevy's  '  Charles  VI,5 
for  which  Casimir  Delavigne — whose  work,  to  my 
thinking,  has  been  unduly  underrated  by  later 
generations — wrote  the  libretto.  From  a  literary 
standpoint  this  is  probably  the  best  libretto  ever 
written  for  any  opera — one  abounding  in  lines  of 
genuine  poetry.  '  Charles  VI '  contains  a  famous 
spirited  chorus-song,  which  is  known  to  Parisians  even 
nowadays.  At  concerts  during  the  war  of  1870-71, 
I  more  than  once  heard  the  stirring  refrain — 

"  Jetons  le  cri  de  delivrance  ! 

Guerre  aux  tyrans ! 
Jamais,  non  jamais  en  France, 
Jamais  1'Anglais  ne  regnera  !  " 

For  Anglais,  however,  the  word  Allemand  was  substi- 
tuted at  that  period,  and  such,  naturally,  has  been 
the  case  of  recent  times. 

In  the  earlier  Seventies  with  which  I  am  dealing 
here  the  taste  of  Paris  was  rather  for  light  than  for 
grand  opera.  The  days  were  those  of  '  Le  Roi  1'  a 
dit,'  *  La  Jolie  Parfumeuse,'  c  Girofle-Girofla,'  '  La 
Timbale  d' Argent,'  '  Les  Cent  Vierges,'  and  *  Madame 
1'Archiduc,'  all  of  which  were  produced  in  1873  and 
'74.  All  took  rank  as  des  operettes  d  succes,  and  were 
extremely  amusing.  For  folk  who  did  not  care  for 
mirth,  there  was  the  Chatelet  theatre  with  'La  Haine,' 
and  the  Porte-St. -Martin  theatre,  where  they  might 
weep  over  the  cruel  lot  of  *  Les  Deux  Orphelines '  as 
depicted  by  Adolphe  d'Ennery  and  Cormon  in  their 
famous  melodrama  of  that  name.  Thousands  of 
people  repaired  to  the  Porte-St. -Martin  to  see  that 
vile  harpy  La  Frochard,  a  part  taken  chiefly  by 
the  old  stage  duenna  Sophie,  but  assumed  for  a 
few  nights  by  Marie  Laurent.  Sensitive  spectators 
shuddered  at  the  sight  of  her.  Mme.  Laurent  (whose 
real  name,  by  the  way,  was  Alliouze-Luguet)  was 
then  forty-eight  years  old,  and  in  full  possession  of 
all  the  powers  which  had  made  her  famous  as  an 


44 

interpreter   of    melodramatic    roles.     She    survived 
for  another  thirty  years,  that  is  until  1904,  being 
predeceased    by    D'Ennery    in    1899.      Of    Jewish 
origin,  and    according    to    some    accounts    really 
named  Philippe,  he  was  an  old  hand  at  such  pro- 
ductions   as    '  Les    Deux    Orphelines.'     The    most 
famous  of  all  his  melodramas,  '  La  Grace  de  Dieu,' 
dated  from  1841  ;    yet  nothing  would  surprise  me 
less  than  to  learn  that  it  was  still  being  played  by 
some  touring  company  here  or  there  in  the  French 
provinces    about  the  time  when  the  recent    Great 
War  began.     Fewer  playwrights  ever  had  a  longer 
or  more  prosperous  career  than  D'Ennery,  who  was 
nearly  ninety  years  old  when  he  died.     In  the  course 
of  so  long  a  life  he  naturally  had  rivals  and  compeers 
in  the  branch  of  playwriting  which  he  more  particu- 
larly affected.     He  occupied  in  relation  to  melo- 
drama much  the  same  position  as  that  to  which 
Emile  Richebourg  attained  in  relation  to  popular 
feuilleton  fiction.     Both  catered  for  audiences  partial 
to  pathos,  people  who  found  a  keen  enjoyment  in 
following  the  misfortunes  of  innocence  either  through 
four  long   acts   or  through   a  hundred  newspaper 
instalments,  and  who,  when  their  feelings  had  been 
sufficiently  played  upon,  were  suddenly  relieved  and 
comforted   by   a   fifth   act   or   a   hundred-and-first 
feuilleton,  in  which  guilt  was  punished  and  virtue 
fittingly   rewarded.     By   ministering   to   the   tastes 
of  such  spectators  and  readers,  both  D'Ennery  and 
Richebourg  became  men  of  wealth  long  before  they 
died,  by  which  time  their  names  had  been  for  years 
household  words  among  all  the  concierges,  dames  de 
la  halle,  and  marchandes  des  qiiatre-saisons,*  to  say 
nothing  of  the  midinettes  of  Paris. 

In  1873  there  died  prematurely  a  purveyor  of 
popular  fiction  whose  works  I  helped  to  make  known 

*  This  name  is  currently  applied  in  Paris  k>  the  female  costermongers 
who  sell  in  rotation  the  fruits  and  vegetables  of  the  four  seasons  of 
the  year. 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  45 

to  English  readers  during  the  subsequent  decade. 
Emile  Gaboriau  cannot  strictly  be  called  the  creator 
of  the  detective  story,  or,  as  the  French  put  it, 
roman  judiciaire,  for  it  existed  before  his  time  ;   but 
he  certainly  stamped  his  personality  on  this  branch 
of  fiction,  and  his  '  Monsieur  Lecoq '  was  as  distinct 
and  as  able  a  creation  as  any  detective  imagined  by 
Eugene  Sue  or  Victor  Hugo.     Born  in  1835,  Gaboriau 
was  a  native  of  Saujon,  a  little  place  of  three  or  four 
thousand    souls    in    Saintonge — not    far   from    the 
estuary  of  the  Gironde.     Saujon  figures  as  Saulieu 
in  '  La  Corde  au  Cou,'  one,  I  think,  of  Gaboriau's 
earliest  stories,  written  before  he  created  '  Monsieur 
Lecoq.'     His  first  literary  ventures,  however,  after 
he  had  come  to  Paris  to  study  law  there,  thus  becom- 
ing a  denizen  of  the  Quartier  Latin,  were,  I  believe, 
articles  and  booklets  of  no  particular  account  on 
actresses,  demi-mondaines,  royal  mistresses,  and  so 
forth.     His  father  was  a  member  of  the  legal  pro- 
fession,  but  experienced  reverses   of  fortune,   and 
young  Gaboriau  turned  from  his  studies  to  a  clerk- 
ship in  a  notary's  office,  then  enlisted  in  a  cavalry 
regiment,  and  finally  took  to  fiction-writing  as   a 
means  of  livelihood.     He  produced  altogether  eight 
or  nine  long  stories — some  of  them  running  to  two 
volumes — and  most  were  published,  at  least  in  serial 
form,   before  the  Franco-German  War.     Then  his 
health  gave  way  and  consumption  carried  him  off 
at    the    early    age    of    eight-and-thirty.     A   faded 
photograph  lying  before  me  shows  a  young  man, 
slim  and  short,  with  sunken  cheeks  and  a  somewhat 
straggling  beard. 

Gaboriau's  legal  studies  undoubtedly  inclined 
him  to  the  branch  of  fiction  which  he  took  up.  He 
had  become  well  versed  in  the  criminal  law,  and 
formed  an  acquaintance  with  sundry  members  of 
the  detective  force.  Some  years  after  his  death, 
when  I  was  living  on  the  Cours  Marigny  at  Vincennes, 
M.  Claude,  the  famous  Chef  de  la  Surete,  with  whom 


46  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

I  occasionally  played  dominoes — he  had  then  retired 
from  the  force — told  me  that  he  had  read  Gaboriau's 
books  and  distinctly  remembered  him  personally, 
for  at  one  moment  it  had  been  his  ambition  to  join 
the  detective  service.  But  he  was  not  physically 
fitted  for  arduous  duties,  and  his  application 
failed. 

Gaboriau's  books  may  not  be  literature,  but  they 
are  most  ingeniously  constructed  and  supply  very 
interesting  reading.  When  Vizetelly  &  Co.  (my 
father's  firm)  decided  to  issue  them  in  English,  it 
was  discovered  hi  the  pages  of  Busch  or  some  other 
writer  on  Bismarck,  that  the  latter,  in  moments  of 
relaxation,  was  extremely  partial  to  Gaboriau's 
books ;  and  accordingly  our  series  was  well  adver- 
tised as  "  Prince  Bismarck's  favourite  reading."  Its 
success  was  so  pronounced  that  my  father  asked  me 
to  suggest  a  "follow  on."  I  then  recollected  that 
since  Gaboriau's  death,  Fortune  du  Boisgobey  had 
written  a  clever  book  which  he  called  '  The  Old  Age 
of  Monsieur  Lecoq.'  This  was  translated  and  pro- 
duced by  us,  and  led  to  our.  publishing  a  large 
number  of  Du  Boisgobey's  stories.  Some  of  them 
were  extremely  able,  virtually  as  good  as  anything 
by  Gaboriau ;  but  Du  Boisgobey  was  far  too  prolific, 
and  his  later  works  by  no  means  equalled  the  earlier 
ones. 

My  father  and  I  were  on  very  friendly  terms  with 
the  Marcs,  who  were  at  the  head  of  the  senior  French 
pictorial  weekly,  *  L' Illustration,'  and,  having  also 
business  relations  with  them,  I  used  to  call,  when  in 
Paris,  practically  every  week  at  their  offices  in  the 
Rue  de  Richelieu.  I  thus  became  acquainted  with 
Theophile  Gautier,  who  in  his  last  years  was  a 
regular  contributor  to  '  L' Illustration,'  criticizing 
in  its  pages  both  the  Salons  and  the  more  important 
theatrical  productions.  Like  Gaboriau,  Gautier  was 
virtually  killed  by  the  Franco-German  War.  Our 
visits  to  the  Rue  de  Richelieu  often  coincided,  and, 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  47 

noting  after  the  Commune  how  helpless  he  appeared 
to  be  physically,  I  used  to  assist  him  to  alight  from 
his  cab  and  to  regain  it  when  his  business  was  con- 
cluded. Burly  and  ponderous,  with  pasty,  drooping 
cheeks  and  tired,  lack-lustre  eyes,  he  struck  me  at 
the  time  as  having  well-nigh  gone  his  course.  Yet 
he  was  not  an  old  man — only  one-and-sixty  when  he 
died  in  1872.  At  the  times  when  I  met  him  he 
seemed  conscious  of  the  fact  that  his  end  was  not 
far  off.  It  was  in  a  very  wistful  way  that  he  said 
to  me  one  afternoon  when  I  had  rendered  him  a  little 
assistance  :  "  It  is  a  very  beautiful  thing  to  be  young 
and  active."  The  words  were  commonplace  enough, 
but  the  manner  in  which  they  were  spoken  gave  them 
a  deep  meaning.  Wrecked  though  Gautier's  health 
might  be,  there  was  little  if  any  falling  off  in  the 
quality  of  his  writing,  which  remained  vivid,  full 
of  colour  and  picturesqueness,  even  when  he  was 
dealing  with  some  comparatively  trivial  subject. 

His  brilliant  contemporary,  Jules  Janin,  passed 
away  two  years  later,  having  by  that  time  reached 
the  age  of  seventy.  Noted  for  the  sparkling  verve 
of  his  style  Janin  had  long  been  called  the  Prince  of 
Critics.  His  literary  judgment  was  not,  however, 
nearly  so  sound  as  that  of  Sainte-Beuve,  who  died  in 
the  year  preceding  the  Franco-German  War.  But 
it  was  chiefly  as  the  foremost  dramatic  critic  that 
Janin  w%as  best  known,  and  there  certainly  was  a 
time  when  his  pronouncements  largely  influenced 
the  fortunes  of  a  play.  His  times  were  mostly 
leisurely  ones.  In  the  middle  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  French  theatrical  critic  was  not  required 
to  draft  his  "  copy  "  at  express  speed  the  moment 
a  first  performance  was  over,  in  order  that  the  public 
might  read  all  about  the  new  piece  in  the  newspapers 
of  the  following  morning.  He  was  allowed  time  to 
think  matters  over  and  to  deliver  a  considered 
judgment,  for  as  a  rule  theatrical  criticism  appeared 
only  once  a  week  in  the  chief  organs  of  the  Parisian 


48  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

press.     That  was  the  custom  with  the  '  Journal  des 
Debats,'  in  which  Janin's  pronouncements  appeared 
as  feuilletons.     Now  at  the  time  when  he  signed  his 
first  contract  with  the  'Debats' — which  must  have 
been  during  the  reign  of  Louis-Philippe — theatrical 
performances  began  and  ended  at  earlier  hours  than 
became     the    case    some    years    afterwards    when 
Napoleon  III  was  on  the  throne.     Janin,  who  lived, 
if  I  remember  rightly,  at  Passy,  or,  at  all  events, 
at  a  very  considerable  distance  from  the  Comedie, 
the   Odeon  and  the  Boulevardian  theatres,  greatly 
objected  to  the  later  and  later  hours  allotted  to 
performances  by  managers  who  found  themselves 
obliged  to  take  account  of  the  change  in  the  Parisian 
dinner-hour,  which  passed  during  the  Second  Empire 
from  6  to  6.30  p.m.,  than  to  7  p.m.,  and  even  7.30. 
It  should  be  added  that  for  a  considerable  time  the 
Paris   Omnibus  Company  gave  no  regard  to  this 
change  in  habits,  and  that  the  bus  services  ceased 
at  what  would  now  be  regarded  as  an  abnormally 
early  hour.     Well,  one  evening,  at  about  ten  o'clock, 
Janin  was  seen  consulting  his  watch  and  then  rising 
from  his  seat  at  some  theatre  where  a  first  per- 
formance was  being  given.     To  most  of  the  audience 
the  play  had  seemed  distinctly  promising,  but  when 
the   Prince   of   Critics   was   observed   quitting   the 
auditorium  in  the  middle  of  the  second  act,  people 
generally  imagined  that  he,  the  man  of   superior 
judgment,  found  the  play  so  extremely  poor  that 
he  could  stand  no  more  of  it.     The  manager  and  the 
author  pulled  long  faces,  but  some  days  later  when 
Janin's  feuilleton  appeared  it  was  found  to  contain 
a  very  appreciative  though  by  no  means  detailed 
critique  of  the  play  from  which  he  had  fled. 

A  short  time  afterwards  a  similar  incident 
occurred  at  another  theatre.  Janin  consulted  his 
watch,  found  it  was  ten  o'clock  or  a  little  later,  and 
thereupon  departed.  A  friend  who  met  him  the 
following  day  inquired  the  reason  of  this  novel 


IN  THE   SEVENTIES  49 

behaviour,  suggesting  that  he  had  hurried  off, 
perhaps,  because  he  felt  unwell.  "  Not  at  all,  not  at 
all,"  Janin  replied.  "  The  matter  is  simple  enough. 
When  I  signed  my  contract  with  the  *Debats' 
performances  ended  in  time  for  me  to  catch  the 
last  green  bus,  which  has  always  taken  me  home. 
If  I  were  to  remain  until  the  end  of  a  performance 
nowadays,  I  should  have  to  walk  home  or  else  engage 
a  cab.  Now  I  do  not  object  to  a  bus  fare,  but  I  am 
certainly  not  going  to  pay  for  cabs  out  of  my  own 
pocket.  If  the  management  of  the  '  Debats  '  wishes 
me  to  remain  till  the  end  of  a  performance,  my 
cab  fares  must  be  paid,  and,  what  is  more,  a  cab 
must  be  waiting  for  me  when  I  quit  the  theatre. 
Meantime,  I  shall  keep  to  my  contract  and  not  go 
beyond  it." 

"  But  is  that  quite  fair  to  the  authors  ?  "  asked 
Janin' s  friend.  "  How  can  one  judge  a  play  when 
one  sees  only  half  of  it  ?  " 

"  Mon  cher"  was  the  reply,  "  Do  you  imagine 
that,  after  attending  so  many  first  performances 
during  so  many  years,  I  cannot  tell,  when  once  I 
have  seen  the  exposition  of  a  piece  in  the  first  act,  and 
observed  the  tendency  of  the  second,  what  is  logically 
bound  to  follow  ?  ': 

Early  in  the  Seventies  a  paper  called  '  Le  Bien 
Public  '  was  established  in  the  interests  of  Thiers 
and  the  more  moderate  Republican  party.  M.  Yves 
Guyot  became  closely  connected  with  this  journal, 
and  secured  for  Emile  Zola,  who  was  then  fighting 
his  way  upward,  the  post  of  dramatic  critic.  Though 
Zola  failed  as  a  writer  for  the  stage,  he  displayed  no 
little  good  judgment  in  regard  to  the  works  of  others. 
The  man,  however,  who  became  essentially  the 
Prince  of  Dramatic  Critics  under  the  Third  Republic 
—that  is  until  his  death  in  1899 — was  Francisque 
Sarcey,  who  had  already  sat  in  judgment  on  many 
plays  of  the  Second  Empire  period.  Sarcey  made 
no  secret  of  his  likes  and  dislikes,  and  was  cordially 

E 


50  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

detested  by  a  good  many  playwrights  on  whose 
feelings  he  had  not  hesitated  to  trample.  As  time 
elapsed  he  acquired  a  curious  tendency  which  at 
last  developed  almost  into  monomania.  To  put  the 
matter  broadly,  he  took  the  outlines  of  a  play  or 
some  particular  situation  in  it,  and  then  attempted 
to  show  that  under  such  or  such  conditions  such  or 
such  a  scene  ought  to  have  ensued.  But  the  author 
had  not  supplied  it,  and  the  inference  was  that  he 
had  preferred  to  shirk  a  difficulty  because  he  was 
not  competent  to  deal  with  it.  Sarcey's  views  in 
this  respect  were  at  times  quite  correct,  and  when  he 
first  indulged  his  marotte  of  la  scene  a  faire  he  was 
found  both  instructive  and  amusing,  for  he  threw 
light  on  the  possibilities  resulting  from  any  given 
situation,  and  at  the  same  time  revealed  the  limita- 
tions of  certain  writers  who  entertained  extremely 
high  opinions  of  themselves. 

But  Sarcey  eventually  carried  his  theories  to 
excess,  and,  presuming  on  the  pontifical  position 
to  which  he  had  attained,  became  much  too  dog- 
matical. This  was  largely  explained  by  the  fact 
that  he  had  been  educated  for  the  scholastic  pro- 
fession, and  was  never  afterwards  able  to  shake  off 
entirely  the  tendencies  of  a  pedagogue.  There  was 
scarcely  a  playwright  in  Paris  who,  at  one  time  or 
another,  could  not  have  turned  round  and  inquired 
of  him :  "  Are  you  the  author  of  that  piece  or  am 
I  ?  "  At  the  same  time  Sarcey  had  his  weaknesses. 
Now  and  again  he  became  enamoured  of  some  pretty 
petticoat,  on  which  for  the  space  of  a  honeymoon 
or  so  he  lavished  unstinted  praise.  To  some  other 
petticoats,  however,  he  never  rendered  even  bare 
justice,  though  they  excelled  the  ones  that  he 
extolled.  Of  course  the  scandalmongers  found  it 
easy  to  explain  why  some  were  well  and  others  badly 
treated. 

Early  in  the  Seventies  the  *  Illustrated  London 
News  '  proprietary  acquired  the  *  Illustrated  Sporting 


IN  THE   SEVENTIES  51 

and  Dramatic  News,'  and  the  post  of  Paris  correspon- 
dent of  the  latter  journal  was  thereupon  offered  me. 
The  conditions  of  publication  made  it  difficult  to 
write  to  any  great  extent  on  racing  in  France,  and 
although  I  did  not  neglect  that  or  any  other  form  of 
sport,  whenever  there  was  anything  of  real  import- 
ance or  interest  to  be  said,  my  contributions  to  the 
'  I.S.D.N.'  dealt  more  particularly  with  matters 
theatrical.  As  a  rule,  my  weekly  "  copy  "  made  from 
two  to  three  columns  of  print,  and  before  long  my 
initials  were  appended  to  my  letters,  though  in  those 
days  the  English  press  seldom  departed  from  its  rule 
of  anonymity  in  regard  to  contributors.  There  were 
times  when,  as  those  who  have  read  my  book  '  In 
Seven  Lands  '  will  know,  I  had  to  quit  Paris  in  order 
to  accompany  my  father  to  Germany,  Austria,  Spain, 
Portugal  and  elsewhere,  but  those  journeys  occurred 
more  frequently  in  the  summer  or  the  early  autumn, 
when  there  was  little  doing  in  the  theatrical  world 
of  Paris.  At  such  times  I  usually  passed  the  pen 
to  my  brother  Edward  or  my  cousin  Montague 
Vizetelly,  if  one  or  the  other  was  available. 

I  certainly  missed  witnessing  some  notable  per- 
formances which  were  given  in  my  absence,  but  on 
the  whole  I  had  not  much  to  regret.  I  was  fortu- 
nately in  Paris  when  Bizet's  *  Carmen '  was  pro- 
duced in  1875,  and  I  was  one  of  the  very  few 
critics,  either  French  or  foreign — who  unhesitatingly 
recorded  a  most  favourable  impression.  '  Carmen,' 
indeed,  incurred  at  the  first  moment  the  danger  of 
being  damned  by  faint  praise,  such  commendation 
as  was  bestowed  by  the  majority  of  the  critics  after 
the  first  performance  being  given  far  less  to  the  work 
itself  than  to  Galli-Marie,  who  created  the  title  role 
even  as  she  had  created  that  of  '  Mignon '  nine 
years  previously.  That  she  was  admirable  as 
Carmen  goes  virtually  without  saying.  A  Parisienne 
by  birth  she  was  in  her  thirty-fifth  year  in  '75 
and  in  full  possession  of  all  her  powers.  As  for 


52  PARIS   AND  HER  PEOPLE 

*  Carmen,'  to  extol  its  merits  now  would  be  waste 
of  ink. 

I  suppose  that  the  delight  which  I  have  always 
taken  in  music  was  derived  by  me  from  my  mother, 
who  often  set  her  own  words  to  tuneful  airs.  My 
father  seemed  to  have  no  ear  for  music.  I  believe, 
indeed,  that  it  really  bored  him.  I  occasionally  sat 
beside  him  in  opera-houses — at  Paris,  Berlin,  Vienna 
—where  he  had  to  be  present  as  a  matter  of  duty,  but 
he  never  evinced  the  slightest  appreciation  of  what 
he  heard.  He  would  become  interested  in  the  staging 
of  an  opera,  as  for  instance  that  of  '  A'ida  '  at  Berlin, 
but  the  music  he  seemingly  regarded  with  indifference. 
In  my  younger  days  my  passion  was  for  musical 
pieces  of  all  descriptions.  Facilities  for  gaining 
admission  to  the  Opera  Comique  in  Paris  made  me, 
however,  a  particular  of  that  house  when  I  was 
little  more  than  a  child.  I  know  not  how  many 
times  I  may  have  heard  '  Le  Chalet,'  '  Le  Postilion  de 
Longjumeau,'  *  Le  Pre  aux  Clercs,'  '  La  Fille  du 
Regiment,'  and  '  Si  j'etais  Roi.'  Even  in  more 
mature  years,  on  seeing,  en  passant,  one  of  those  old 
favourites  billed  at  one  or  another  house  I  have  not 
hesitated  to  enter  in  order  to  hear  it  once  again. 

My  connection  with  the  '  Illustrated  Sporting  and 
Dramatic  News '  placed  me  in  touch  with  many 
members  of  the  French  theatrical  world — managers, 
composers,  authors,  vocalists,  actors  and  actresses. 
With  a  few  theatrical  folk  I  had  previously  become 
acquainted — for  instance,  the  rotund  Marie  Sass  of 
the  Grand  Opera ;  the  dignified  Bressant  of  the 
Comedie  Fran9aise,  whose  acquaintance  I  first  made 
in  an  omnibus  by  which  we  both  used  to  travel 
virtually  every  day  ;  Victor  Capoul,  the  Paul  of 
Masse's  '  Paul  et  Virginie  '  ;  Coquelin  cadet  and  his 
(at  one  time)  inamorata,  Celine  Montaland,  a  lady  of 
most  luxuriant  charms ;  and  Henri  Litolff,  the 
talented  composer  of  '  Les  Templiers,'  '  La  Boite  a 
Pandore,'  and  '  Heloise  et  Abelard.'  Litolff  was 


IN  THE   SEVENTIES  53 

our  neighbour  at  Nogent-sur-Marne,  and  it  was  this 
circumstance  which  brought  us  together  soon  after 
the  insurrection  of  the  Commune.     He  was  then 
little  more  than  fifty  years  old,  but  one  might  have 
thought    him    a    septuagenarian.     His    appearance 
suggested  that  of  Berlioz.     His  clean-shaven  face  had 
a  waxen  hue  and  his  long,  streaming  hair  was  of  a 
snowy  whiteness.     His  eyes  were  bright  but  dreamy 
—in  a  word,  he  looked  his  profession.     At  first  I 
thought  him  much  older  than  he  really  was,  whilst 
his  good-looking  wife  seemed  to  me  to  be  surprisingly 
young  for  such  a  very  elderly  husband.     She  was  a 
member  of  the  famous  ducal  house  of  La  Roche- 
foucauld, and  had  married  Litolff  under  romantic 
circumstances,    virtually    defying  her  high-born  re- 
•  lations,    who    strongly    objected   to  such  a  match. 
Unfortunately  Litolff  developed  that  terrible  vice, 
an  all-mastering  passion  for  strong  drink,  and  his 
circumstances  thereby  became  very  reduced.     Some- 
times on  my  way  home  at  night  I  found  him  hope- 
lessly  intoxicated   at   the   railway   station   on   the 
Place  de  la  Bastille,  where  we  both  had  to  take  the 
train.     On  more  than  one  such  occasion  I  played  the 
part  of  the  good  Samaritan  ;    but  Litolff  became 
such  a  confirmed  tippler  that  he  had  to  be  provided 
at  last  with  a  "  guardian  angel "  in  the  person  of 
a  man  who  accompanied  him  to  Paris  every  evening 
and  returned  with  him  to  Nogent  at  night. 

Litolff,  I  may  explain,  was  then  acting  as  chef 
d'orchestre  at  one  of  the  Parisian  concert  and  dancing 
halls,  where  he  received  a  salary  of  a  thousand  francs 
a  month.  We  all  know  what  the  craving  for  drink 
may  lead  to.  Placed,  as  I  have  said,  under  a  kind 
of  restraint,  this  man  of  high  talents  gradually 
developed  the  greatest  cunning  in  order  to  satisfy 
his  passion.  It  was  necessary  for  his  guardian  to 
watch  him  incessantly,  for  at  the  first  opportunity 
off  he  went,  rushing  away  until  he  reached  some 
secluded  boozing  den  where  he  could  tipple  as  far 


54  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

as  his  purse  allowed.  In  my  romance  '  The  Lover's 
Progress,'  there  figures  a  composer  who  on  one 
occasion,  after  dining  and  wining  well,  calls  loudly 
for  coffee,  "as  sweet  as  love,  as  black  as  the  devil, 
and  as  hot  as  hell,"  and  who  at  another  time  insists 
on  playing  a  composition  called  the  '  Dance  of  Death,' 
much  to  the  horror  of  a  hitherto  merry  supper  party. 
In  those  pages  it  was  Litolff  whom  I  endeavoured  to 
portray. 

One  day,  whilst  I  was  walking  along  the  Boule- 
vards, I  was  accosted  by  a  music-publisher  named 
Dignat,  with  whom  I  had  become  acquainted  during 
my  theatrical  experiences.  He  told  me  that  he  had 
just  accepted  the  position  of  manager  at  the  Folies- 
Bergere,  which  was  then  being  run  by  Leon  Sari, 
who  before  the  Franco-German  War  had  acquired 
some  notoriety  by  producing  "  leg  pieces "  at  a 
little  house  called  the  Deiassements  Comiques.  The 
Folies  was  in  a  bad  way  at  this  time,  owing  in  part  to 
Sari's  extravagance  and  neglect.  The  upshot  of  my 
conversation  with  Dignat  was  that  I  undertook 
certain  secretarial  duties  and  assisted  him  generally 
in  providing  an  entertainment  which  might  again 
attract  the  Boulevardian  world  to  a  house  which  was 
fast  becoming  deserted.  It  was  then  that  the  bright 
idea  occurred  to  me  of  treating  the  jaded  Parisians 
to  an  English  pantomime  harlequinade — English 
companies,  first  one  under  Tom  Lovell,  and  later  one 
under  Fred  Evans,  being  engaged  for  this  purpose. 
The  Majiltons  and  other  clever  variety  artists  were 
also  secured.  Olivier  Metra,  "  the  French  Strauss," 
who,  in  spite  of  the  world-popularity  of  the  '  Valse  des 
Roses,'  was  vegetating  as  conductor  at  the  dancing- 
hall  of  the  Elys6e  Montmartre,  was  engaged  by  us  as 
chef  d'orchestre  and  commissioned  to  compose  some 
sparkling  ballets  for  an  adequate  troupe  of  lively 
girls,  and,  briefly,  in  a  surprisingly  short  space  of 
time  the  Folies-Bergere  started  on  a  career  of  renewed 
prosperity  which  never  ceased  to  increase  down  to 


55 

the  advent  of  the  Great  War.  As  for  my  personal 
experiences  in  connection  with  the  house,  these  are 
indicated  in  '  The  Lover's  Progress ' — the  romance 
to  which  I  previously  referred. 

Some  of  our  English  variety  artists,  with  whom, 
notably  the  Majiltons,  I  was  soon  on  very  friendly 
terms,  afterwards  secured  engagements  at  the  Cafe- 
concert  de  1'Horloge,  one  of  the  open-air  establish- 
ments in  the  Champs  Elysees.  It  was  being  run 
by  an  Austrian  named  Stein,  who  had  amassed 
considerable  means  by  importing  Viennese  beer  into 
France.  French  beer,  be  it  said,  was  in  those  days 
altogether  execrable.  Stein  was  a  man  of  very  jovial 
disposition,  and  as  I  had  been  in  Vienna  (1873)  and 
could  talk  to  him  of  his  beloved  Prater,  Dreher's 
brewery,  and  the  Esterhazy  Keller,  we  were  soon  on 
friendly  terms  together,  and  in  summer-time  I  often 
dropped  in  at  the  Horloge  to  enjoy  a  glass  of  his 
"  particular  "  and  chat  and  smoke  with  him. 

But  my  connection  with  the  Folies-Bergere 
ceased — Dignat  joining  forces  with  Vizentini  at 
the  Theatre  Lyrique — and  I  was  repeatedly  called 
away  from  Paris,  going  to  Madeira,  Teiieriffe, 
Portugal,  and  eventually  Italy.  Thus,  although  I 
always  returned  to  Paris  after  each  excursion,  and 
invariably  experienced  a  keen  delight  at  setting  foot 
on  the  asphalt  of  the  Boulevards  once  more,  my 
acquaintance  with  Stein  ceased.  One  day,  however, 
in  May,  1878,  the  year  of  the  Republic's  first  great 
Exhibition,  I  chanced  to  stroll  into  the  Horloge,  where 
I  was  greeted  as  an  old  friend.  In  the  midst  of  the 
performance  that  evening  Stein's  acting-manager 
fell  down  some  stairs  leading  to  the  dressing-rooms, 
which  were  underneath  the  stage,  and  broke  his  leg. 
He  had  to  be  removed,  and  on  being  appealed  to  by 
Stein  I  took,  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  charge  of  the 
remainder  of  the  performance.  For  about  a  month 
I  discharged  virtually  all  the  managerial  duties, 
regulated  the  performances,  supervised  rehearsals, 


56  PARIS   AND  HER  PEOPLE 

and  drew  up  the  programmes.  Then,  Stein's 
manager  recovering,  I  was  offered  the  management 
of  the  dancing-hall  of  the  Casino  Cadet,  where  a 
clever  but  bibulous  Pole  named  Markowski,  who 
claimed  to  have  introduced  the  mazurka  to  Western 
Europe,  was  acting  as  chef  d'orchestre.  I  knew, 
however,  to  what  classes  the  bulk  of  the  frequenters 
of  the  Casino  Cadet  belonged,  and  so  I  declined 
Stein's  proposal,  and  never  afterwards  took  part  in 
the  management  of  any  Parisian  house  of  entertain- 
ment. 

I  may  conclude  this  chapter  by  mentioning  a 
few  incidents  of  Parisian  life  which  have  not  been 
chronicled  in  my  previous  pages.  In  1872  there  was 
a  great  stir  over  a  crime  passionnel — the  murder  of 
a  young  woman  named  Dubourg  by  her  husband, 
who  escaped  with  a  few  years  of  imprisonment.  In 
'73  we  had  two  sensations,  the  death  of  Napoleon  III 
and  the  trial  of  Marshal  Bazaine — events  which,  like 
the  Dubourg  affair,  are  narrated  at  length  in  my 
book  *  Republican  France.'  During  the  same  year, 
'73,  the  Persian  Shah  visited  Paris  and  was  accorded 
an  unduly  magnificent  reception.  In  '74,  when 
both  Michelet  and  Guizot  passed  away,  Paris  was 
long  kept  in  a  state  of  horror  by  a  series  of  brutal 
murders  perpetrated  near  Limours  in  Seine -et-Oise. 
Several  of  these  crimes  were  traced  to  a  peasant 
named  Poirier  who  had  developed  a  positive  mania 
for  taking  human  life. 


IV 


THE   END    OF   THE   SEVENTIES 

Inauguration  of  the  New  Opera — Masse's  '  Paul  et  Virginie  i — Erckmann- 
Chatrian's  '  L'Ami  Fritz  ' — Coppee's  '  Le  Passant ' — Sarah  Bernbardt 
and  the  Comedie  Fran9aise — Etienne  M&ingue — Frederick  Lemaitre 
— Lafontaine — Political  Unrest — The  Situation  in  Literature — The 
Salons  and  a  few  Popular  Pictures — Detaille,  de  Neuville,  J.  P. 
Laurens — Revival  of  the  Noble  Faubourg — E.  C.  Grenville-Murray — 
Work  and  Pleasure— The  Great  Exhibition  of  1878. 

IN  January,  1875,  the  new  Opera-house,  the  building 
of  which  had  been  in  progress  ever  since  1861,  was  at 
last  inaugurated.  The  huge  pile  covered  2f  acres 
of  ground,  which  had  been  acquired  at  a  cost  of 
£420,000.  On  the  building  itself  no  less  than 
£1,440,000  were  expended.  Sundry  details  were 
modified  whilst  the  work  was  proceeding.  For 
instance,  immediately  after  the  Revolution  of  1870 
all  the  imperial  crowns  and  eagles  and  the  initials 
of  Napoleon  III  were  removed  or  effaced,  whilst 
alterations  were  also  carried  out  with  respect  to  the 
imperial  box,  its  adjacent  salons,  and  the  special 
approach  intended  for  the  court  equipages.  In  all 
essential  respects,  however,  Charles  Gamier' s  original 
plans  were  adhered  to.  Garnier,  a  Parisian  by  birth, 
was  but  five-and-thirty  years  old  when  those  plans 
were  adopted.  After  the  final  scaffoldings  were 
removed  from  the  new  building  the  critics  did  not 
regard  its  front  elevation  as  an  unqualified  success. 
Seen  from  the  square,  the  entrance  floor,  which  was 
approached  merely  by  a  few  steps,  looked  low  and 
squat,  dwarfed  and  crushed  by  the  long,  lofty  colon- 
naded loggia  above  it.  The  completion  of  the 

57 


58  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Avenue  de  1' Opera  was  needed  in  order  that  the 
edifice  might  be  seen  to  more  advantage.  However, 
no  little  praise  was  bestowed  on  the  grand  staircase, 
and  the  two  lounges — that  is  the  public  foyer  and 
the  foyer  de  la  danse — whilst  the  auditorium,  though 
it  had  no  particularly  original  features,  was  generally 
approved.  Of  the  innumerable  decorations  some 
were  extolled,  perhaps  excessively,  and  others  more 
or  less  criticized.  The  paintings  by  Paul  Baudry 
were  the  most  admired ;  whilst  Carpeaux'  group 
of  La  Danse  decorating  the  fa9ade  was  of  all  the 
sculpture  the  most  questioned. 

Completed  in  1869,  this  group  was  certainly  a 
very  realistic  daring  performance  for  those  days. 
"  An  orgy,  a  saturnalia,  a  national  disgrace." 
shrieked  some  of  bhe  pontiffs  of  art.  "  Cart  it  away, 
send  it  to  the  Bal  Bullier  or  the  Jardin  Mabille  !  " 
clamoured  others.  One  night  some  wrathful  and 
foolish  person  disfigured  this  much-abused  piece 
of  statuary  by  dashing  some  ink  over  it,  whereupon 
it  naturally  became  more  conspicuous  and  question- 
able than  ever.  The  stains  were  only  removed  with 
great  difficulty ;  possibly,  indeed,  some  trace  of 
them  may  still  remain  ;  however,  the  outrage  seemed 
to  appease  the  detractors  of  Carpeaux'  work,  and  the 
agitation  subsided. 

Visitors  to  the  Grand  Opera  may  be  reminded 
that  its  paintings,  its  sculpture,  its  decorations 
generally,  sum  up  the  art  of  a  well-defined  period  of 
French  history — the  Second  Empire.  The  initials  of 
Napoleon  III  have  been  removed,  but  nothing  can 
alter  the  fact  that  this  edifice  and  its  adjuncts,  with 
all  their  merits  and  all  their  faults,  belong  essentially 
to  his  reign,  although*  he  had  fallen  from  power  and 
was,  indeed,  dead  when  everything  was  ready  for 
inauguration.  It  was  said  in  '75  that  the  gilding, 
bronzing  and  polychromatic  work  which  Gamier 
lavished  on  this  structure — he  employed  thirty-three 
distinct  varieties  of  marble — suggested  in  a  striking 


THE  END  OF  THE  SEVENTIES         59 

way  the  tinsel  and  glitter  of  the  last  Imperial  regime. 
One  critic  likened  the  edifice  to  a  huge  bonbonniere, 
and  he  was  not  altogether  wrong.* 

The  Lord  Mayor  of  London  (Alderman  Stone) 
came  to  Paris  in  state  for  the  inauguration — which 
was  the  first  great  social  function  witnessed  under 
the  present  Republic — and  was  received  with  virtu- 
ally regal  honours.  London's  chief  magistrate  at 
least  exercised  more  authority  than  the  various 
throneless  royalties  who  attended  the  ceremony 
as  the  guests  of  Marshal  MacMahon,  President  of  the 
Republic.  Isabella  of  Spain,  Francis  II  of  Naples, 
and  blind  George  of  Hanover  had  lost  their  crowns, 
and  the  Orleans  princes  were  never  to  secure  the  one 
which  they  coveted. 

As  I  previously  recorded,  '  Carmen,'  produced 
at  the  Opera  Comique,  was  the  musical  event  of 
that  year — '75.  During  the  ensuing  twelvemonth, 
Victor  Masse,  already  known  by  his  '  Galatee  '  and 
his  '  Noces  de  Jeannette,'  gave  us  '  Paul  et  Virginie,' 
which  inspired  some  amusing  comic  songs,  a  sure 
proof  of  popularity  in  Paris.  There  was  diversity 
of  opinion  respecting  '  L'Ami  Fritz,'  a  comedy  which 
was  based  by  Erckmann-Chatrian  on  their  story  of 
the  same  name.  When  it  was  staged  during  '76  at 
the  Theatre  Fran9ais,  some  people  held  that  it 
grossly  libelled  the  Alsatians — and  in  fact,  as  it  was 
first  performed,  there  was  certainly  too  much  guzzling 
and  gorging  in  the  piece.  Milder  critics  on  their 
side  opined  that  it  would  have  been  better  to 
have  abstained  from  evoking  the  memory  of  the 
lost  provinces  on  the  stage,  even  though  the 
authors  were  natives  of  the  territory  which  Germany 
had  filched  from  France.  '  L'Ami  Fritz,'  however, 
certainly  proved  a  succes  de  curiosite,  and  drew 
thousands  of  spectators  to  the  Comedie  Fransaise. 
Another  theatrical  success  of  that  year  was  Frangois 

*  The  stage  of  the  Grand  Opera-house  is  180  feet  in  width,  80  feet  in 
depth,  and  47  feet  in  height. 


60  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Coppee's  graceful  one-act  comedy,  'Le  Luthier  de 
Cremone,'  which  recalled  memories  of  his  charming 
earlier  work,  '  Le  Passant'  (Odeon,  1869),  by  which 
Sarah  Bernhardt  had  been  first  brought  into  notice. 
Her  star  was  to  rise  to  its  zenith  during  the  ensuing 
years  of  the  Third  Republic,  whose  great  tragedienne 
she  was  destined  to  become.  But  the  genuine  fame 
which  was  to  be%  her  due  was  preceded  by  much 
blatant  notoriety. 

In  that  earlier  period  of  the  "  divine  "  Sarah's 
career — she  was  but  five-and-twenty  when  she 
appeared  in  '  Le  Passant ' — no  little  restless  eccen- 
tricity was  blended  with  her  genius.  At  quite  an 
early  stage  the  caricaturists  pounced  upon  her  as  a 
model  well  suited  to  their  art.  She  was  so  extremely 
slim,  so  slight,  so  willowy,  so  frail  of  aspect  that  it- 
seemed  as  if  the  faintest  spring  breeze  would  suffice 
to  blow  her  over  the  house-tops.  Accordingly  the 
caricaturist  who  desired  to  be  kind  portrayed  her  as 
a  sylph,  whilst  the  wretched  man  who  was  bent  on 
being  as  unkind  as  possible  depicted  her  as  a  kind  of 
living  skeleton.  In  the  shop  windows  or  the  pages 
of  illustrated  journals  one  or  another  presentment  of 
her  was  always  to  be  seen.  In  April,  1880,  apropos 
of  some  adverse  criticism  of  her  impersonation  of 
Dona  Clorinde  in  Augier's  play,  *  L'Aventuriere,' 
she  quitted  the  Comedie  Frangaise,  though  she  was 
not  entitled  to  do  so.  Others,  however,  in  later 
years  took  the  very  same  course,  for  the  societaires 
of  the  Comedie  were  bound  by  rules  which,  if 
justifiable  at  the  time  of  Napoleon's  famous 
decree  of  Moscow,  could  scarcely  satisfy  the  aspira- 
tions of  leading  players  in  the  days  of  the  Third 
Republic. 

It  was  undoubtedly  an  honour  to  belong  to  the 
Comedie  Frangaise,  and  the  shares  or  parts  allotted 
to  the  societaires,  and  the  pensions  or  retraites  which 
ensued  in  later  years,  sufficed  for  subsistence  ;  but 
the  societaires  were  tied  to  the  theatre,  and  could 


THE  END  OF  THE  SEVENTIES         61 

perform  nowhere  else  unless  they  were  expressly 
"  lent "  or  received  "  leave "  for  a  very  limited 
period.  On  the  other  hand,  they  saw  fellow  actors 
and  actresses  of  the  Boulevardian  theatres  entering 
into  such  contracts  as  they  pleased,  receiving  larger 
and  larger  salaries,  touring  the  world,  carrying  the 
genius  of  the  French  stage  in  every  direction,  and 
reaping  the  plaudits  of  many  nations.  Limited 
ambition  might  rest  content  with  membership  of  the 
Comedie's  company,  with  the  security  this  offered, 
with  the  honour  of  belonging  to  the  foremost 
theatrical  organization  in  the  world,  and  of  seeing 
people  come  to  Paris  expressly  to  witness  one  or 
another  performance,  but  to  higher  ambition  the 
restraints  imposed  by  the  regulations  became  irksome 
and  at  times  quite  unbearable. 

Sarah's  struggle  with  the  Comedie  was  not  the 
only  matter  that  tended  to  her  notoriety.  A 
hundred  eccentric  actions  were  imputed  to  her, 
some  of  them  truly  enough,  and  others  quite  falsely. 
There  was,  however,  always  some  fresh  story  about 
her  going  the  round  of  the  Press.  Now  it  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  a  pet  bear  or  a  cherished  tiger-cub 
which  was  said  to  have  made  its  escape  from  her 
residence,  to  the  terror  of  all  who  met  it  on  their 
walks  abroad.  Now  there  was  a  question  of  a  coffin, 
lined  with  black  satin,  in  which  Sarah  was  said  to 
sleep  at  night  by  way  of  preparing  herself  for  the 
eternal  repose  which  would  some  day  become  her  lot. 
Next  she  was  said  to  be  writing  poetry  to  a  new 
metre  or  a  play  on  most  original  lines.  After- 
wards she  was  supposed  to  be  trying  her  hand  at 
painting.  Then  she  had  resolved  to  become  a 
sculptor,  and  was  alreadj^  modelling  a  bust.  There 
was  truth  in  the  reports  about  her  literary  and 
artistic  attempts,  for  her  restless  versatility  ever 
sought  some  fresh  outlet.  Amidst  it  all  (1882)  she 
married  Jacques  Damala,  an  actor  of  Greek  origin, 
from  whom  she  soon  parted.  In  one  or  another  way 


62  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Sarah's  name  was  always  before  the  public,  irre- 
spective of  the  art  of  which  she  became  so  accom- 
plished an  interpreter.  As  a  tragedienne  she  stands 
forth  in  the  theatrical  annals  of  the  Third  Republic, 
as  Miles.  George  and  Duchesnois  did  in  those  of  the 
First  Empire,  and  as  Rachel  did  from  the  days  of 
Louis-Philippe  to  the  earlier  years  of  the  third 
Napoleon's  rule.  Between  Rachel  and  Sarah  a  link 
in  the  tragediennes  art  was  supplied  by  the  less 
remembered  Leonide  Agar,  a  woman  of  powerful 
personality  and  embittered  lif e. 

In  the  Seventies  the  stage  lost  two  leading  im- 
personators of  the  old  romantic  drama,  such  as  Dumas 
the  elder  had  often  provided  for  the  entertainment 
of  the  Parisians.  Etienne  Melingue  passed  away  in 
'75.  He  had  begun  life  as  a  carpenter,  but  took  to 
carving  and  modelling,  and  on  coming  from  Caen, 
his  native  place,  to  Paris,  was  employed  on  some  of 
the  ornamental  work  at  the  church  of  the  Madeleine. 
Melingue's  nature  was  a  restless  one,  however,  and 
he  at  last  joined  an  obscure  company  of  players. 
Dumas,  I  believe,  saw  him  acting  some  part  or  other 
at  a  little  Paris  theatre,  and  was  so  struck  by  his 
ability  that  when  the  famous  melodrama  called  the 
'  Tour  de  Nesle '  was  produced  at  the  Porte-St.- 
Martin,  he  gave  him  the  leading  part  of  Buridan. 
Melingue's  success  was  instantaneous.  Quick  and 
ardent,  with  cavalier  ways,  he  excelled  in  what  are 
called  cape  et  epee  parts.  During  my  boyhood  I  saw 
him  in  one  of  the  many  revivals  of  the  '  Tour  de 
Nesles  ' — a  play,  by  the  way,  for  which  Dumas  took 
all  the  credit,  though  Gaitlardet,  his  collaborator, 
claimed  to  have  done  virtually  all  the  work — which, 
remembering  how  much  Auguste  Maquet  wrote  of 
Dumas'  romances,  may  well  have  been  the  case. 
A  few  lines  of  the  '  Tour  de  Nesle ' — which  has  as  its 
theme  the  amours  of  the  profligate  Margaret  of 
Burgundy — still  survive,  having  passed  into  the 
French  language.  One  phrase  is  used  to  signify 


THE  END  OF  THE  SEVENTIES         63 

a  determination  for  revenge  after  one  has  been 
worsted  in  some  encounter.  In  the  play  Margaret 
has  Buridan  cast  into  the  deepest  dungeon  of  the 
tower  of  Nesle,  whereupon  the  brave  young  knight, 
far  from  losing  heart,  shakes  his  chained  arms  and 
cries  :  "  Bien  jouee,  Marguerite,  a  toi  la  premiere 
mane  he,  mais  a  moi  la  revanche  ! ':  Many  a  night 
have  those  words  rung  out  in  a  Parisian  cafe  when 
a  customer,  after  losing  a  game  of  dominoes,  has 
claimed  his  revenge ;  and,  times  changing,  often 
were  they  repeated  by  poilus  on  the  French  front 
in  the  recent  war  after  some  advantage  had  been 
gained  by  the  enemy.  An  equally  familiar  sentence : 
"C'est  une  belle  nuit  pour  une  orgie  a  la  tour," 
comes  from  the  same  play. 

Another  of  Melingue's  successful  parts  was  that 
of  Benvenuto  Cellini  in  the  drama  of  the  same  name. 
In  one  scene  of  this  production  he  worked  very 
cleverly  at  a  statuette  of  Hebe.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  he  possessed  genuine  talent  as  a  sculptor,  for 
he  repeatedly  exhibited  at  the  Salons,  and  gained 
some  well-deserved  prizes  for  what  he  showed.  His 
wife  was  a  pensionnaire  of  the  Comedie  Fran9aise, 
where  she  played  in  drama  and  comedy  under  the 
name  of  Mme.  Theodorine  ;  and  both  of  their  sons 
became  well  known  as  painters  of  talent.  The  elder, 
who  died  in  1889,  left  one  particularly  clever  picture, 
'  A  Dinner  at  Moliere's  at  Auteuil '  ;  while  the 
younger,  who,  I  believe,  is  still  with  us,  first  tried  his 
hand  at  landscape-painting  and  afterwards  turned 
to  historical  episodes. 

Melingue  was  followed  to  the  grave  during  the 
ensuing  year  by  his  contemporary  and  fellow  Norman, 
Frederick  Lemaitre,  long  known  as  the  Talma  of 
the  Boulevards.  Frederick's  most  famous  creation 
was  undoubtedly  the  character  of  Robert  Macaire, 
in  the  play  called  '  L'Auberge  des  Adrets,'  by  Antier, 
Saint- Amand  and  "  Potyanthe."  The  two  first- 
named  authors  afterwards  wrote  a  continuation  or 


64  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

sequel  which  bore  the  title  of  *  Robert  Macaire,' 
Lemaitre  having  made  that  name  quite  famous. 
Indeed,  from  that  time — the  year  1823 — it  was 
constantly  used  by  literary  men  and  the  public 
generally  to  designate  a  bold,  boastful,  swaggering 
scoundrel  who,  besides  robbing,  does  not  hesitate 
to  murder  ;  whilst  the  name  of  his  bosom  companion 
and  acolyte,  Bertrand,  is  applied  to  one  who,  with 
an  equal  inclination  to  villainy,  but  a  more  simple 
mind,  is  constantly  led  into  criminal  deeds  by  his 
principal's  commanding  influence.  Honore  Daumier 
helped  to  popularize  the  types  of  Robert  Macaire  and 
Bertrand  by  a  series  of  powerful  designs  which  fixed 
these  scamps  in  the  public  imagination. 

From  the  time  when  Frederick  Lemaitre  created 
the  role  of  Macaire  he  played  at  virtually  every  great 
theatre  of  Paris  excepting  the  haughty  and  exclusive 
Comedie  Fran9aise.  Tall  and  broad-shouldered,  built 
indeed  like  an  athlete,  he  excelled  in  parts  which 
applied  to  a  wild,  passionate  nature.  Nevertheless, 
when  occasion  required  it,  he  could  take  the  role  of 
quite  an  elegant  personage  with  the  most  polished 
and  charming  manners.  At  another  time  he  would 
be  all  sarcasm  and  cynicism,  or  would  put  on  the 
ways  of  a  disorderly,  devil-may-care  "  bohemian." 
He  gave  a  wonderful  impersonation  of  the  chief  part 
in  the  great  gambling  play  which  Victor  Ducange 
called  '  Trente  Ans  ou  la  Vie  d'un  Joueur ' ;  and  it 
was  expressly  for  him  that  Alexandre  Dumas  wrote 
'  Kean  ou  Desordre  et  Genie.'  Born  at  Le  Havre 
in  1800,  Frederick's  *  best  days  were  naturally  quite 
past  at  the  period  when  on  a  few  occasions  I  saw  him 
perform  ;  but  the  leonine  head  and  bearing  were  still 
there,  and  at  times  he  could  still  summon  the  lion's 
roar  to  thrill  his  audience. 

Another  noteworthy  actor  of  the  time  to  which 

*  Lemaitre  assumed  the  name  of  Frederick.  His  real  Christian  names 
were  Antoine  Louis  Prosper.  He  was  a  well-educated  man  of  good  middle- 
class  birth,  his  father  having  been  an  architect. 


THE   END   OF  THE    SEVENTIES         65 

I  have  been  referring,  but  one  who  survived  until 
almost  the  end  of  the  century,  was  Lafontaine — 
that  is  (to  give  him  his  real  name)  Louis  Marie  Henri 
Thomas,  grandson  of  Antoine  Thomas,  the  eighteenth- 
century  panegyrist  of  the  French  Academy.  Young 
Thomas  was  at  first  intended  for  the  Church  and 
placed  in  a  seminary,  but  he  ran  away  to  sea, 
deserted  from  his  ship,  became  a  commercial  clerk, 
and  afterwards  a  hawker,  as  which  he  finally  made 
his  way  to  Paris,  where,  speedily  becoming  stage- 
struck,  he  resolved  to  join  the  "  profession."  For  a 
period  he  vegetated  in  minor  parts  under  the  assumed 
name  of  Charles  Rook.  But  he  possessed  a  real 
sense  of  the  dramatic,  and  in  1856,  when  he  was  but 
thirty  years  old,  and  had  already  acted  at  the  Porte- 
St. -Martin  and  the  Gymnase,  he  entered  the  Comedie 
Frangaise  as  a  pensionnaire.  There,  however,  he 
quarrelled  with  the  directorate,  and  he  ended  by 
returning  to  the  Boulevardian  stage.  He  was 
extremely  versatile,  but  sometimes  attempted  parts 
for  which  he  was  not  at  all  suited,  and  thus  he  failed 
in  some  roles  of  the  Comedie's  repertoire. 

After  the  Franco-German  War  I  often  saw  him 
perform  in  one  or  another  piece  at  the  Odeon,  the 
Porte-St. -Martin,  the  Gymnase  and  the  Gaite.  His 
greatest  successes  were  achieved  in  the  '  Fils  de 
Famille,' '  Frou-Frou,'  and  finally  '  Abbe  Constantin.' 
I  remember  him  also  in  a  cape  et  epee  melodrama 
called  '  Le  Gascon,'  for  which  Offenbach  composed 
some  clever  incidental  music.  Lafontaine  acted  the 
title  role  (which  suggested  D'Artagnan)  in  the  genuine 
style  of  Melingue,  whose  achievements  he  well 
remembered ;  and  sensitive  people  were  always 
thrilled  by  the  artistic  manner  in  which  he  died  upon 
the  stage  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  very  pretty 
dreamy  melody  by  Offenbach,  which  in  these  later 
years  has  often  recurred  to  me,  haunting  me,  I  know 
not  why,  in  a  very  curious  fashion.  For  a  consider- 
able time  the  c  Gascon's  Death  Song,'  as  it  was  called, 
proved  very  popular  in  Paris. 

v 


66  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

On  the  musical  stage  the  year  1877  was  marked 
by  the  first  performances  of  Audran's  '  Grand 
Mogol,'  Massenet's  vigorous  yet  poetical  '  Roi  de 
Lahore,'  Saint  Saens's  stately  and  much-admired 
'  Samson  et  Dalila,'  and  last,  but  not  least,  by  the 
most  popular  of  Robert  Planquette's  operettas,  the 
familiar  '  Cloches  de  Corneville,'  which  proved, 
perhaps,  the  most  successful  piece  of  its  kind  since 
'  La  Fille  de  Madame  Angot.'  Its  tuneful  airs  were 
carried  all  the  world  over,  for  it  kept  the  stage 
throughout  the  ensuing  year,  1878,  when  many 
thousands  of  foreigners  flocked  to  Paris  to  visit  the 
first  great  International  Exhibition  held  there  since 
the  war  of  1870-71.  Once  more  then  did  the  re- 
cuperative energy  and  the  genius  of  France  become 
manifest. 

There  was  still  some  political  unrest,  for  the 
Royalists  had  not  quite  despaired  of  turning  the 
Republic  into  a  monarchy,  and  the  Clericalists  were 
still  constantly  agitating  the  question  of  the  Temporal 
Power  of  the  Papacy,  though  the  stubborn,  intran- 
sigeant  Pontiff  Pius  IX  died  in  January  that  year, 
being  succeeded  by  the  far  more  diplomatic  Leo  XIII. 
Thiers  had  passed  away  in  May,  '77,  Gambetta  now 
becoming   the   principal   Republican   leader.     Mac- 
Mahon's  attempts  to  stay  the  march  of  Republi- 
canism by  dismissing   Jules  Simon  from  office  and 
entrusting  power  first  to  the  Duke  de  Broglie  and 
M.  de  Fortou,  and  later  to  General  de  Rochebouet, 
had  proved  abortive,  and  he  had  been  constrained 
to  reconstitute  an  administration  of  at  least  moderate 
Republicans  under  M.  Dufaure.     This  led  to  some 
quietude,  so  that  the  Exhibition  period  began  with 
a  kind  of  political  truce.     Whatever  their  political 
differences  might  be,  all  Frenchmen  were  well  pleased 
that  their  country  should  offer  to  the  world  the 
spectacle  of  a  nation  reborn,  as  it  were,  after  the 
greatest  disasters,  and  excelling  once  more  in  industry, 
science  and  art. 


THE   END  OF  THE   SEVENTIES         67 

Literature,  moreover,  was  again  in  the  ascendant. 
Already  in  '72  the  war  with  Germany  had  inspired 
the  veteran  Victor  Hugo  to  write  his  eloquent 
distressing  '  Annee  Terrible,'  whilst  the  insurrection 
of  the  Commune  had  afterwards  induced  him  to  trace 
that  dramatic  tableau  of  the  Reign  of  Terror,  which 
he  called  "  '93."  But  in  1877  he  sounded  a  far 
milder  and  kindlier  note  in  the  compositions  which 
were  gathered  together  under  the  title  of  '  L'Art 
d'etre  Grand-pere.'  In  fiction  a  younger  generation 
of  writers  was  rapidly  coming  to  the  front.  George 
Sand  was  dead  ('76),  Flaubert  was  declining,  even 
the  Goncourt  Brothers  had  done  their  best  work. 
But  Alphonse  Daudet  was  pushing  forward  with  his 
'  Froment  jeune  et  Risler  aine,'  his  '  Jack '  and  his 
'  Nabab.'  In  two  more  years  '  Les  Rois  en  Exil ' 
and  '  Numa  Roumestan  '  would  follow.  As  for  Zola, 
his  Rougon-Mac quart  series  was  well  advanced,  and 
*  L'Assommoir  '  was  the  talk  of  Paris.  Maupassant, 
moreover,  was  penning  some  of  his  best  stories,  and, 
on  all  sides,  there  were  signs  of  literary  activity. 

The  Salons,  then  held  at  the  now  demolished 
Palais  de  1'Industrie  in  the  Champs  Elysees,  had 
been  chiefly  remarkable  ever  since  the  war  for  the 
great  number  of  battle  pictures  and  other  works 
depicting  military  episodes  which  were  exhibited. 
These  paintings  were  of  all  sorts,  good,  bad,  and 
indifferent,  and  many  had  a  distinctly  depressing 
effect  by  reason  of  the  bitter  memories  which  they 
revived.  Alphonse  de  Neuville,  however,  had  made 
himself  both  famous  and  popular  by  his  well-known 
'  Dernieres  Cartouches,'  that  stirring  episode  of  the 
desperate  defence  of  Bazeilles  near  Sedan.  His 
young  confrere,  Edouard  Detaille,  who  afterwards 
collaborated  with  him  in  painting  a  panorama  of  the 
battle  of  Champigny  (siege  of  Paris,  1870),  was  also 
coming  to  the  front  rank.  In  my  opinion,  however, 
Detaille's  work  never  equalled  De  Neuville's,  for 
though  it  at  first  showed  great  promise,  and  at  times 


68  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

real  energy  of  treatment,  it  ended  by  becoming 
formal  and  spiritless.  Detaille  paid  too  much 
attention  to  the  details  of  uniforms,  his  troopers 
were  too  spick  and  span,  they  did  not  figure  in  any 
real  engagement,  they  merely  appeared  in  a  parade, 
a  review,  or  at  best  a  sham  fight.  De  Neuville's 
representations  of  warfare  were  far  more  realistic, 
though  in  that  respect  they  fell  short  of  the  work 
with  which  Verestchagin  afterwards  startled  those 
good  people  who  knew  nothing  of  war's  sufferings 
and  horrors.  In  the  days  to  which  I  have  been 
referring  Meissonier  was  still  alive,  and  turning  to 
larger  compositions  then  those  to  which  he  had 
accustomed  us.  We  had  passed  from  Imperial  to 
Republican  days,  yet  Meissonier  did  not  waver  in 
his  cult  of  Napoleon  and  the  First  Empire. 

I  can  recall  just  a  few  paintings  which  for  one 
or  another  reason — chiefly  their  subjects — attracted 
general  attention  at  the  Salons  of  the  Seventies. 
One  of  these  was  Gerome's  '  Eminence  Grise,'  in 
which  the  painter  depicted  Richelieu's  confident, 
Father  Joseph,  descending  some  steps  amidst  bowing 
and  cringing  courtiers.  Another  picture,  before 
which  groups  of  people  always  assembled,  was  a 
work  by  Jean-Paul  Laurens,  who  was  steadily  rising 
to  celebrity.  It  represented  the  Duke  d'Enghien  of 
Napoleon's  time  listening,  in  the  moat  of  the  fortress 
of  Vincennes,  to  the  reading,  by  the  light  of  a  lantern, 
of  the  sentence  condemning  him  to  death.  A  few 
years  later  another  painting  by  Laurens  attracted 
even  greater  notice.  It  depicted  the  lifeless  Marceau 
lying,  still  in  uniform,  on  a  bed,  by  the  side  of  which 
were  gathered  the  Austrian  general — Clerfayt,  I 
think — and  his  staff  officers,  all  with  their  heads 
bared  and  bowed,  in  reverential  homage,  as  it  were, 
to  that  heroic  adversary  of  theirs  who  at  twenty- 
seven  years  of  age  had  given  his  life  for  France  and 
the  Republic.  Byron's  line — 

"  Brief,  brave  and  glorious  was  his  young  career," 


THE  END  OF   THE   SEVENTIES          69 

comes  irresistibly  to  mind  when  one  thinks  of 
Marceau.  Those  same  words  might  be  applied  to 
many  who  gave  their  lives  for  Britain  and  Right  and 
Justice  during  the  recent  great  struggle. 

Most  of  the  painters  whose  works  figured  at  the 
earlier  Salons  of  the  Third  Republic  were  survivals 
of  the  Second  Empire  period,  though  the  "  open-air  " 
and  the  impressionist  schools,  led  by  Bastien-Lepage 
and  Edouard  Manet,  were  well  on  the  warpath. 
Bouguereau  was  still  painting  pretty  "  mythologies." 
Henner  was  still  in  his  prime,  and  one  year  his 
*  Alsacienne,'  a  female  figure  typical  of  his  grief- 
stricken  native  province,  became  one  of  the  most 
admired  exhibits.  It  passed,  by  presentation,  I 
believe,  into  the  possession  of  Gambetta.  Portraits 
abounded  at  those  early  "  shows."  On  almost  every 
wall  you  perceived  the  presentment  of  a  general  or  a 
politician,  and  year  by  year  the  number  of  fashionable 
ladies  portrayed  in  velvets,  silks,  satins  and  laces 
steadily  increased.  It  was  evident  that  such  painters 
as  Dubufe,  Cabanel  and  Carolus  Duran  (real  name, 
Charles  Durand)  were  busy  men.  One  wondered 
how  they  had  found  time  to  turn  out  so  many 
gleaming  or  shimmering  studies  of  the  costliest 
fabrics  draped  by  Worth  or  Pingat  or  La  Ferriere 
on  the  female  form  divine. 

The  feminine  element  had  once  more  become  very 
conspicuous  in  Paris.  All  the  ladies  of  the  Imperialist 
and  Royalist  noblesse  formed  little  coteries  which 
dabbled  in  politics.  Some  wished  France  to  have 
another  Emperor,  others  desired  either  a  divine- 
right  or  a  constitutional  King.  Boudoir  cabals 
were  formed,  and  the  rival  coteries  warred  against 
one  another  as  well  as  against  the  Republic.  There 
was  something  marvellous  about  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  noble  Faubourg  St.  Germain.  During 
Napoleon  Ill's  sway  of  twenty  years  or  so  the  great 
majority  of  the  Faubourg's  denizens  had  remained 
sulking  stubbornly  against  the  impudent  usurpation 


70  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

of  yet  another  Bonaparte,  who,  given  his  mother's 
scandalous  reputation,  was  perhaps  no  Bonaparte 
at  all.  The  great  portes-cocheres  of  the  large  massive- 
looking  mansions  belonging  to  noble  families  who 
traced  their  ancestry  back  far  into  the  days  of  the 
old  regime,  remained  tightly  closed.  The  windows 
which  overlooked  the  streets  were  often  shuttered. 
Never  was  there  any  sound  of  revelry  at  night,  never 
a  line  of  carriages  waiting  in  the  courtyards,  where 
weeds  sprouted  between  the  paving-stones.  The 
noble  Faubourg  remained  in  gloom  from  the  time  of 
the  Coup  d'Etat  till  the  end  of  the  Communalist 
insurrection.  Then,  however,  it  suddenly  began  to 
wake  up.  Priceless  old  furniture  was  dusted  and 
furbished,  new  hangings  appeared  at  the  windows,  the 
carriage-ways  were  opened,  flowers  decorated  the 
steps  and  balconies,  footmen  in  gorgeous  liveries 
waited  in  the  halls,  the  salons  were  all  light  and 
splendour,  the  dining-tables  were  hospitably  spread, 
music  sounded,  guests  arrived,  people  ate  and  talked 
and  laughed  and  danced,  and  every  face  was  eager, 
bright,  wreathed  in  happy  smiles.  How  wonderful 
is  the  effect  of  Great  Expectations  !  In  one  or 
another  way,  by  mortgaging  town  residences  or 
selling  farms,  the  Parisian  aristocracies  raised  money, 
and  began  to  live  once  more  in  as  near  a  fashion  to 
the  good  old  times  as  was  yet  possible. 

Moreover,  Paris  was  invaded  by  shoals  of  petty 
aristocrats  from  the  provinces,  who  had  resorted  to 
every  possible  device  in  order  to  procure  the  where- 
withal to  cut  a  figure  in  the  capital  and  wait  there 
for  the  day  when  the  King  would  come  to  his  own  again 
and  they  might  solicit  from  him  some  such  posts  as 
their  names  and  the  services  of  their  ancestors  might, 
in  their  estimation,  justify.  Thus  the  fashionable 
world  of  Paris  became  even  larger  than  in  the  days 
of  the  Empire,  and  the  leading  couturiers  and  cou- 
turi&res  found  business  increasing  by  leaps  and 
bounds.  For  a  while,  indeed,  the  Septennate,  as 


THE  END  OF  THE  SEVENTIES         71 

the  regime  was  called — MacMahon  having  been 
elected  for  seven  years — proved  the  very  gayest  of 
times.  The  fashionable  drive  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne 
was  crowded  with  equipages  every  afternoon,  threat 
ladies  in  the  bravest  and  sprightliest  array  flocked  to 
the  Salons  or  the  Horse  Shows,  which  were  also  held 
at  the  Palais  de  1'Industrie ;  and  on  race  Sundays 
the  pesage  at  Longchamp  became  a  veritable  parterre 
of  beauty  and  elegance. 

Grenville-Murray,   an   illegitimate  scion   of   the 
house  of  Buckingham  and  Chandos,  was  at  that 
period  contributing  to  the  '  Pall  Mall  Gazette '  a 
number  of  bright,  lively,  satirical  articles,  in  which  he 
described  all  sorts  of  phases  of  Parisian  social  life. 
Other  articles,  which  were  not  quite  so  light  in  tone, 
were  at  the  same  time  supplied  by  him  to  the  '  Daily 
News.'     I  came  in  touch  with  him  by  chance,  and 
occasionally  rendered  him  a  little  assistance.      He 
knew  that  I  myself  sent  articles  to  the  '  Pall  Mall,' 
notably  on  feminine  fashions,  on  which  subject  I 
was  regarded  almost  as  an  expert — my  first  jour- 
nalistic work,  in  the  Empire's  days,  having  been  the 
Paris  fashions  articles  for  the  '  Illustrated  London 
News.'     When  my  father  was  establishing  the  pub- 
lishing business  of  Vizetelly  &  Co.,  he  arranged  with 
Grenville-Murray  to  write  several  books  for  him,  the 
outcome    being    such    volumes    as    '  Sidelights    on 
English  Society,'  *  Under  the  Lens,'  '  People  I  have 
Known,'  and  so  on.     Rights  in  Murray's  *  Pall  Mall ' 
articles  on  Parisian  society  were  also  acquired  by 
Vizetelly  &  Co.  ;    but  nothing  had  been  done  with 
respect  to   their  publication   in  book  form   when 
Murray  died  quite  suddenly  at  his  cosy  little  residence 
in  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain.     On  his  articles  after- 
wards being  handed  to  me,  I  found  them  out  of  date 
in  various  respects,  but  I  took  them  in  hand,  touched 
most  of  them  up  in  one  or  another  part,  amalgamated 
others,  and  virtually  rewrote  three  or  four  of  them. 
I  gave  the  series  the  title  of  '  High  Life  in  France,' 


72  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

and  as  such  the  book  was  issued  and  proved  remark- 
ably successful.  As  I  had  occasionally  "  devilled  " 
for  Murray,  knew  his  views  and  method  of  work,  and 
was  generally  conversant  with  the  subjects  he  treated, 
I  was,  I  daresay,  more  qualified  than  others  might 
have  been  to  prepare  the  '  High  Life '  volume  for 
the  press.  I  have  no  wish,  however,  to  exaggerate 
my  own  share  in  it,  particularly  as  I  desire  to  add 
that  no  other  book  in  our  language  gives  as  good  an 
idea  of  what  Parisian  society  was  like  during  Mac- 
Mahon's  presidency  and  the  immediately  succeeding 
years. 

I  was  indebted  to  GrenviUe-Murray  for  a  few 
introductions  to  French  aristocratic  families.  One 
of  my  old  schoolfellows  at  Bonaparte  was  also  in  the 
aristocratic  swim,  and  took  me  both  to  that  recognized 
school  of  politeness,  the  stately  and  polished  salon  of 
the  Marquise  de  Blocqueville,  and  to  the  semi-artistic, 
semi-political  soirees  given  by  the  handsome  Countess 
de  Beaumont,  sister  to  Mme.  de  MacMahon.  I  often 
met  Murray  on  the  Boulevards,  and  now  and  again 
we  went  to  sup  together  in  Brebant's  large  room 
at  the  corner  of  the  Faubourg  Montmartre.  Here 
one  fell  in  with  the  Boulevardian  crowd — writers, 
actors,  artists,  adventurers,  cocottes  and  so  forth. 
I  know,  and  I  confess  it,  that  I  began  to  burn  the 
candle  at  both  ends.  My  connection  with  the 
French  theatrical  world  brought  disturbing  elements 
into  my  life.  I  certainly  never  ceased  working,  but 
I  found  enjoyment  very  much  to  my  taste,  and  in 
order  to  secure  time  for  both  work  and  pleasure  I 
tried  the  prescription  which  is  indicated  in  one  of 
Tom  Moore's  best  songs,  that  is,  in  order  to  lengthen 
my  days,  I  stole  at  first  a  few,  and  afterwards  a  good 
many,  hours  from  the  nights. 

Unfortunately  a  penalty  always  follows  such 
a  regimen.  I  was  born,  I  believe,  with  a  constitution 
which  ought  to  have  carried  me  through  some  four- 
score years  and  ten.  But  I  am  still  far  from  having 


THE   END  OF  THE  SEVENTIES         73 

attained  any  such  age,  and  there  are  times  when  I 
already  feel  desperately  tired.  Had  I  not  tried  too 
quick  a  pace  in  the  days  of  my  youth  it  would  have 
been  better  for  mine  old  age.  When  a  man  is  young 
and  vigorous,  however,  the  witching  hours  of  night 
are  very  delightful,  very  fascinating.  I  can  recall 
nights  spent  with  friends  in  and  around  the  Central 
Markets  of  Paris,  others  exploring  thieves'  haunts 
in  the  northern  districts  of  the  city,  others  rollicking 
in  the  Quartier  Latin,  and  others  again  in  the  supper- 
rooms  on  the  Boulevards.  I  remember,  after  hours 
spent  in  supping  and  fun  and  frolic,  driving  with 
friends  in  an  open  cab  to  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  and 
at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  drinking  milk  there. 
Then,  returning  to  Paris,  we  would  drive  to  one  of 
the  Seine  swimming-baths,  plunge  into  the  cold  water, 
emerge  from  it  like  giants  refreshed,  and  afterwards 
betake  ourselves  homeward  to  change  our  clothes 
and  prepare  for  the  day's  work.  Heavy  heads 
seldom  followed,  because  however  much  vitality 
we  might  expend  we  did  not  drink  to  excess.  If  we 
intoxicated  ourselves  it  was  chiefly  with  prattle  and 
jest  and  laughter.  At  Carnival  time  we  often  did 
silly  things.  I  confess  that  I  have  gone  to  a  bal 
masque  at  the  Opera  with  my  face  lavishly  painted, 
and  surmounted  by  a  flaring  red  wig.  But  que 
voulez  vous  !  My  own  view  is  that  unless  one  amuses 
oneself  whilst  one  is  young,  one  never  really  amuses 
oneself  at  all,  for  life,  as  it  progresses,  brings  with  it 
too  many  cares,  one  or  another  of  which  always 
intrudes  upon  one  like  the  skeleton  at  the  feast. 
But  now,  my  confession  having  been  made,  let  me 
return  once  more  to  my  narrative  and  give  some 
account  of  the  Great  Exhibition  year  which  showed 
that  Paris  had  really  become  herself  again. 

There  had  been  two  general  international  exhibi- 
tions in  the  city  during  the  period  of  the  Second 
Empire.  It  was  for  the  first,  which  was  held  in  1855, 
that  is  in  the  midst  of  the  Crimean  War,  and  was 


74  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

visited  by  Queen  Victoria,  the  Prince  Consort,  and 
their  elder  children — the  future  Empress  Frederick 
and  Edward  VII — that  the  so-called  Palais  de 
Tlndustrie  was  erected  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
Champs  Elysees.  From  1856  till  1900,  when  the 
building  was  demolished,  it  served  for  the  annual 
fine-art  Salons,  horse  and  cattle  shows,  and  such 
other  exhibitions  as  it  could  accommodate,  its  length 
being  824  feet  and  its  breadth  about  222  feet.  Those 
dimensions  were  altogether  inadequate  for  the  great 
Exhibition  which  it  was  proposed  to  hold  in  1867, 
the  period  of  the  Empire's  apogee,  and  the  site 
selected  for  this  purpose  was  therefore  the  military 
exercising  ground  known  as  the  Champ  de  Mars. 
Here  arose  a  huge  temporary  structure,  inclined  to  be 
oval  in  shape  and  constructed  largely  of  metal,  most 
of  which  was  painted  a  dull  red.  The  critical 
Parisians  promptly  christened  this  unprepossessing 
building  "  the  Gasometer,"  and  when  seen  from  a 
distance  it  did  suggest  some  such  structure. 

But  its  arrangements  were  extremely  ingenious, 
and,  as  one  who  has  visited  most  of  the  other  world 
shows  held  since  those  days,  I  am  of  opinion  that  no 
better  arrangements  could  really  be  devised.  Sectors 
of  the  oval  (extending  from  the  outer  to  the  inner- 
most ring,  which  looked  on  to  a  small  central  garden,) 
were  allotted  to  the  different  exhibiting  countries, 
and  exhibits  of  the  same  category  invariably  had 
to  be  displayed  in  one  particular  concentric  gallery 
or  ring,  extending  round  the  building.  It  followed 
that  if  you  were  interested  in  a  certain  class  of 
product  or  manufacture  you  merely  had  to  confine 
your  peregrinations  to  the  same  concentric  gallery, 
making  the  circuit  of  the  building  and  inspecting 
on  the  way  the  various  goods  of  the  same  category 
made  in  the  different  countries  of  the  world.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  you  wished  to  study  the  products, 
manufactures,  arts,  etc.,  of  a  particular  country,  you 
simply  had  to  keep  to  that  country's  sector  of  the 


THE  END  OF  THE  SEVENTIES         75 

oval,  crossing  the  latter  from  the  outer  ring  to  the 
central  garden.  The  outer  ring,  by  the  way,  was  a 
succession  of  cafes,  bars,  restaurants  and  so  forth, 
which  served  to  illustrate  the  eating  and  drinking 
habits  of  mankind.  On  quitting  the  grounds,  which 
were  full  of  specimen  dwellings  of  artisans,  peasants 
and  other  inhabitants  of  one  and  another  country- 
France,  Russia,  Germany,  Italy,  Spain,  etc. — you 
could,  before  inspecting  the  exhibits  in  the  palace, 
secure  sustenance  for  the  inner  man  at  one  or  another 
of  the  outer  gallery's  refreshment  places,  sampling 
one  day  the  cuisine  of  France,  on  another,  perhaps, 
that  of  Spain  or  China,  and  on  yet  another  the  jolly 
"roast  beef  of  old  England,"  which  last  Messrs. 
Spiers  and  Pond  imported  specially  every  day. 
Their  great  bar  was  patronized  by  all  the  young 
mashers  of  Paris — gandins  and  petits  creves  we  used 
to  call  them — and  this  was  not  surprising,  for  twenty 
or  thirty  of  the  most  beautiful  girls  in  all  the  British 
Isles  had  been  carefully  recruited  to  minister  to  the 
requirements  of  customers. 

Paris  was  remarkably  gay  that  year.  Among  the 
high  and  mighty  personages  who  visited  Napoleon  III 
were  the  Russian  and  Austrian  Emperors,  the  Sultan 
of  Turkey,  the  King  of  Prussia,  attended  by  Bismarck 
and  Moltke,  the  King  of  the  Belgians,  the  Kings 
of  Portugal  and  Sweden,  the  Prince  of  Wales 
(Edward  VII),  and  hosts  of  Grand  Dukes,  Arch- 
dukes, and  other  royal  or  princely  folk  of  every 
possible  category.  Over  52,000  exhibitors  partici- 
pated in  the  great  show  on  the  Champ  de  Mars, 
nearly  16,000  of  them  being  French,  whilst  the 
British  numbered  over  6000.  The  Exhibition  was 
organized  by  the  eminent  economist  Frederic  Le 
Play  ;  and  a  yet  more  renowned  economist,  Michel 
Chevalier,  the  foremost  upholder  of  free-trade 
doctrines  in  France,  was  at  the  head  of  the  inter- 
national jury  which  pronounced  on  the  merits  of 
the  different  exhibits  and  granted  suitable  awards. 


76  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Many  of  the  foremost  men  of  the  age  contributed  to 
the  reports  which  were  subsequently  issued,  and  the 
historian  who  might  wish  to  sum  up  the  resources, 
the  position,  in  virtually  every  respect,  of  the  whole 
world  in  what  was  still  the  middle  period  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  would  find  a  mountain  of 
materials  for  his  purpose  in  those  exhaustive  reports 
on  the  Paris  Exhibition  of  1867. 

Three  years  later  France  was  invaded.  But  the 
war  passed,  and  the  recuperative  energy  of  the  nation 
was  so  great  that,  already  in  1873,  5312  French 
exhibitors  participated  in  the  Weltaustellung  at 
Vienna,  the  Austrian  and  Hungarian  exhibitors  then 
numbering  12,122,  the  Germans  7973,  and  the 
British  only  1828.  The  Paris  Exhibition  of  1878  was 
decided  on  two  years  before  that  date,  at  the  instiga- 
tion, it  was  generally  said,  of  that  remarkably 
energetic  lady,  Mme.  de  MacMahon,  the  wife  of  the 
Marshal-President.  She  was  further  credited  with 
the  appointment  of  M.  Krantz,  a  moderate  Repub- 
lican senator,  to  the  post  of  Commissary  General. 
Invitations  to  join  in  the  coming  display  were  issued 
to  thirty-six  Governments — only  one  of  which 
declined  the  offer.  That,  as  the  reader,  I  think,  will 
have  already  guessed,  was  the  Imperial  Government 
of  Germany. 

The  refusal,  wrapt  up  in  excuses,  was  of  bad 
augury  for  the  future,  and,  to  my  thinking,  a  great 
mistake  on  the  part  of  Bismarck,  from  whom 
it  emanated.  Doubtless,  France  could  not  have 
omitted  Germany  from  her  list  of  invites  without 
incurring  the  reproach  that  she  desired  to  perpetuate 
bitterness  of  feeling.  But  she  invited  Germany  as 
she  invited  the  other  powers  in  a  cordial  manner, 
and  the  German  refusal  tended  to  increase  the  latent 
desire  for  revanche.  I  do  not  think  that  the  French 
would  ever  have  become  reconciled  to  the  loss  of 
Alsace-Lorraine,  but,  looking  back,  I  feel  that  the 
position  between  France  and  Germany  might  well 


77 

have  become  easier,  less  productive  of  friction,  if  the 
latter  had  participated  in  the  Exhibition  of  1878. 
It  is  even  just  possible  that  some  compromise 
might  then  have  been  arrived  at  on  the  Alsace- 
Lorraine  question,  in  which  case  Europe  might  have 
been  spared  the  long  years  of  unrest  which  tended 
more  and  more  towards  the  recent  Great  War. 
Whilst,  however,  the  defeated  nation  evinced  a 
generous,  a  magnanimous  spirit,  the  victor  kept  a 
stiff  lip  and  declined  all  overtures.  Bismarck,  indeed, 
had  no  desire  even  to  attempt  a  rapprochement. 
On  the  contrary,  carried  away  by  his  jealousy  on  per- 
ceiving how  swiftly  the  genius  of  France  was  recover- 
ing from  great  disasters  and  soaring  yet  once  more, 
he  already  had  an  idea  of  finding  some  pretext  to 
strike  her  down  again  and  rob  her  of  yet  other  portions 
of  her  territory.  If  the  industrial  classes  of  Germany 
made  any  attempt  to  persuade  the  Chancellor  to 
alter  his  decision  respecting  the  Paris  Exhibition 
they  were  unsuccessful,  for  he  adhered  to  it  in  all 
respects  so  far  as  they  were  concerned.  The  only 
concession  which  he  made  at  the  eleventh  hour  was 
granted  in  response  to  an  outcry  in  the  German  art 
world,  this  resulting  in  a  small  official  display  of 
paintings  and  statuary  controlled  by  a  special 
Prussian  commissioner.  The  grudging  way  in  which 
this  concession  was  made  did  not  tend  to  improve 
matters.  More  than  one  song  breathing  a  spirit  of 
revanche  became  current  in  Paris  that  year. 

However,  although  Germany,  with  the  trifling 
exception  I  have  mentioned,  did  not  participate  in 
this  great  gathering,  there  were  52,835  exhibitors, 
nearly  half  of  whom  were  naturally  French.  Spain, 
in  this  respect,  took  second  place  with  4583  exhibitors. 
Then  came  Austria-Hungary  with  nearly  4000,  Great 
Britain  and  her  Colonies  with  3184,  Italy  with  2408, 
and  the  United  States  with  1200.  The  chief  Exhibi- 
tion Palace  on  the  Champ  de  Mars  had  a  frontage  of 
over  900  feet  facing  the  Seine,  with  a  depth  of  over 


78  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

1800  feet.  Agricultural  exhibits  were  displayed  on 
the  Quai  d'Orsay ;  exhibits  pertaining  to  ports, 
navigation,  and  so  forth  were  assembled  on  the  banks 
of  the  Seine,  and  live  animals  found  accommodation 
on  the  Esplanade  of  the  Invalides.  There  was  a 
large  display  of  machinery  of  all  descriptions  on  the 
Champ  de  Mars,  free  motive-power  being  supplied 
by  the  authorities,  who,  moreover,  followed  the 
system  (adopted  in  1867)  of  making  no  charge  what- 
ever for  the  space  occupied  by  exhibitors.  A  great 
many  works  of  high  merit  were  gathered  together 
in  the  Fine  Art  sections,  and  I  remember  that 
Leighton's  exhibits,  both  in  painting  and  in  statuary, 
attracted  great  attention.  Before  then  he  had  been 
virtually  unknown  in  France.  There  was  also  an 
extremely  interesting  exhibition  of  ancient  art,  in 
which  the  early  Gallic  and  the  Classical  periods  found 
first  place,  followed  by  the  Middle  Ages  and  the 
Renaissance. 

One  of  the  chief  features  of  the  Exhibition  was  the 
absolute  transformation  of  the  Trocadero,  where  the 
present  familiar  palace  with  its  concert  hall  was 
erected  at  a  cost  of  £544,000,  in  accordance  with  the 
designs  of  Davioud  and  Bourdais.  Before  then  the 
Trocadero  had  been  for  many  years  an  absolute 
eyesore,  a  blot,  as  it  were,  on  the  face  of  Paris.  In 
olden  time  the  spot  had  been  known  simply  as  the 
height  of  Chaillot,  a  little  village  on  the  fringe  of  the 
far-spreading  forest  of  Rouvray,  of  which  the  part 
nearest  to  Paris  has  become  the  Bois  de  Boulogne. 
It  was  to  a  convent  at  Chaillot  that  Louise  de  La 
Valliere  betook  herself  the  first  time  she  fled  from 
her  lover,  Louis  XIV.  Escaping  from  the  Tuileries 
early  one  morning,  she  made  the  journey  on  foot ; 
but  when  Louis  heard  of  her  flight  he  hastily  mounted 
horse  and  galloped  ventre  a  terre  to  the  convent,  where, 
after  much  sighing  and  sobbing,  he  prevailed  on  her 
to  return  to  him. 

Napoleon  at  one  time  intended  to  build  a  grand 


THE  END  OF  THE  SEVENTIES          79 

palace  for  his  son,  the  King  of  Rome,  on  this  height 
overlooking  the  Seine,   but  he  became  too   much 
involved  in  warfare  to  carry  out  his  project.     Later, 
when  his  remains  were  brought  back  from  St.  Helena, 
there  was  a  proposal  to  erect  a  mausoleum  on  the 
site ;    but  this  idea  likewise  came  to  nothing,  on 
account  of  the  expenditure  which  it  would  have 
entailed,  and  so  the  Conqueror  was  laid  to  rest  under 
the  dome  of  the  Invalides.     At  that  time  the  height 
was  already  known  as  the  Trocadero,  this  name 
being  derived  from  a  fortified  position  on  the  Bay 
of    Cadiz,    which   the    Due    d'Angouleme    (son    of 
Charles  X)  took  by  assault  in  1823,  when  the  French 
were  suppressing  revolution  in  Spain.     When  I  first 
knew  the  Parisian  Trocadero  it  was  (like  the  site  of 
the  present  Buttes-Chaumont  Park)  a  succession  of 
great  gaping  quarries,  where  criminals  and  houseless 
wanderers  found  shelter  at  night.     Towards  the  end 
of  the  Second  Empire,  however,  tons  upon  tons  of 
debris,  refuse,  sand  and  earth  were  carted  thither, 
and  the  quarries  having  been  filled  up  a  great  bare 
flight  of  steps  was  built,  leading  from  the  Seine  to 
the  summit  of  the  height.     Thus  matters  remained 
until  the  transformation,  which  was  effected  with 
such  wonderful  rapidity  in  1878,  that  it  seemed  as  if 
the  palace,  the  aquarium,  the  trees,  the  lawns  had 
all  sprung  into  being  at  the  touch  of  a  magician's 
wand. 

In  order  to  enable  a  large  number  of  provincial 
folk  of  small  means,  schoolmasters,  artisans  and 
peasants,  to  come  to  Paris  and  inspect  the  Exhibition 
—a  very  desirable  course  from  the  educational  stand- 
point— a  National  Lottery  was  established.  There 
were  12  million  tickets,  which  readily  found  pur- 
chasers, as  the  prizes  were  very  numerous  and  had 
a  total  value  of  £288,000.  With  the  bulk  of  the 
money  19,000  persons  were  brought  to  Paris,  many 
from  some  of  the  farthest  points  of  France,  and  were 
lodged  in  the  capital  free  of  charge  for  several  days. 


80 

A  balance  of  about  £30,000,  which  afterwards  re- 
mained in  hand,  was  chiefly  applied  to  the  purchase 
of  works  of  art  for  the  national  museums.  The 
original  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  Exhibition  to  the 
State  was  about  £1,412,000.  The  city  of  Paris, 
moreover,  guaranteed  about  a  quarter  of  a  million 
sterling.  The  total  expenses  rose,  however,  to  no 
less  than  £2,215,600,  whilst  the  total  receipts  which 
passed  to  the  Treasury  amounted  to  £947,400.  In- 
clusive of  the  contribution  of  the  city  of  Paris  the 
deficit  exceeded  a  million  and  a  half.  On  the  other 
hand,  thousands  of  people  reaped  pecuniary  benefits 
and  other  advantages ;  Paris  was  crowded  with 
foreigners,  many  of  whom  had  long  purses  which 
they  emptied  freely  ;  and,  in  addition,  France  once 
again  took  full  rank  among  the  world's  great  powers. 
That  alone  was  well  worth  the  money  expended  by 
the  State. 

The  inauguration  was  attended  by  our  future 
Edward  VII,  the  Crown  Prince  (later  King 
Frederick  VIII)  of  Denmark,  and  the  Duke  of 
Aosta  (previously  King  Amadeo  of  Spain).  Many 
other  scions  of  royalty  visited  Paris  during  the 
summer.  My  father  acted  as  one  of  the  British 
jurors,  that  is  in  connection  with  wines,  beers,  and 
spirits,  as  had  previously  been  the  case  at  Vienna  in 
1873,  and  I  was  again  called  upon  to  assist  him. 
It  has  already  been  indicated  that  there  was  some 
political' unrest  in  France  at  the  time  of  the  Exhibi- 
tion in  Paris,  and  in  this  connection  1  remember 
that  at  the  inaugural  ceremony  Marshal  MacMahon 
was  greeted  with  loud  and  repeated  shouts  of  "  Vive 
la  Republique  !  "  This,  of  course,  was  a  constitu- 
tional cry,  and  no  exception  could  be  taken  to  it. 
If  it  was  raised  so  deliberately,  so  loudly,  so  violently 
on  the  occasion  in  question,  this  was  because  the 
Parisians  desired  to  let  the  Marshal-President  know 
that  they  were  opposed  to  any  idea  of  a  monarchical 
restoration.  I  well  remember  that  MacMahon  looked 


THE  END  OF  THE  SEVENTIES         81 

rather  glum  on  hearing  the  terrific  outburst,  and  that 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  was  on  his  right  hand,  in 
the  full  uniform  of  a  British  Field-Marshal,  smiled 
the  broadest  of  smiles.  He  was  far  too  shrewd  and 
well-informed  to  have  had  any  doubt  of  the  purport 
of  the  shouting. 

A  friend  of  mine,  Arthur  Savile-Grant,  the 
inventor  of  the  Boulevard  Kiosks,  which  yielded 
him  a  fair  annuity  paid  by  the  Kiosk  Company, 
found  himself  in  hot  water  on  the  day  of  the  in- 
auguration. He  was  connected  with  the  display  of 
the  Australian  colony,  now  dominion,  of  Victoria, 
and  on  this  section  being  visited  by  the  Prince  of 
Wales  and  his  suite,  Grant  set  himself  the  task  of 
keeping  all  strangers  out  of  the  gallery.  One 
gentleman  whom  he  somewhat  rudely  repulsed 
proved,  however,  to  be  the  then  Duke  of  Manchester, 
a  member  of  the  Royal  British  Commission,  and 
Grant  therefore  had  to  admit  him  and  tender  the 
most  humble  apologies.  A  few  minutes  afterwards 
a  taller  and  younger  man  tried  to  enter  by  the  portal 
which  Grant  so  jealously  guarded.  "  You  can't 
enter,"  the  visitor  was  told,  "  you  are  not  an 
exhibitor.  What  is  it  that  you  want  ?  "  "I  want 
to  speak  to  my  brother-in-law,"  the  stranger  replied. 
"  Your  brother-in-law  ?  I  know  nothing  of  him," 
said  Grant.  "  He  cannot  be  here.  Only  the  Prince 
of  Wales  and  his  party  are  inside."  "  But  the  Prince 
of  Wales,"  retorted  the  visitor  with  a  smile,  "  is  my 
brother-in-law.  I  am  the  Crown  Prince  of  Den- 
mark." Thereupon  Grant  collapsed  and  absolutely 
abandoned  his  attempts  to  prevent  strangers  from 
entering  the  Victorian  section.  His  motives  had  been 
excellent,  for  he  wished  to  prevent  "  Teddy  "  from 
being  mobbed ;  but,  as  he  remarked  to  me  a  few 
minutes  afterwards  :  "I  gave  it  up  and  let  every- 
body pass  in.  The  next  man  whom  I  might  have 
tried  to  stop  might  have  been  a  king  or  an  emperor, 
there  was  no  telling.  Let's  go  to  the  American 

G 


82  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

bar  and  have   a  cocktail.    I  feel  that  I   need   a 


reviver." 


A  great  fete  was  given  at  Versailles  during  the 
Exhibition  period,  but  it  was  by  no  means  a  success- 
ful affair,  as  the  arrangements  were  extremely  bad. 
No  fewer  than  16,000  invitations  had  been  issued, 
and  however  vast  the  palace  of  Louis  XIV  may  be, 
the  rooms  allotted  to  the  entertainment  in  no  wise 
sufficed  for  such  a  crowd.  Besides,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  the  Republican  elements  in  the  throng 
—people  who  had  suddenly  sprung  into  some  kind  of 
social  notoriety  since  1870 — were  often  painfully 
deficient  in  good  manners.  In  the  end  there  came  a 
terrible  melee,  on  the  Grand  Staircase,  one  crowd 
trying  to  force  its  way  upward  whilst  another  tried 
to  force  its  way  down,  until  both  became  mixed  in 
inextricable  and  violent  confusion.  Women's  costly 
frocks  were  torn,  their  false  hair  fell  from  their  heads, 
others  had  their  natural  locks  streaming  wildly  over 
their  shoulders,  many  fainted,  and  shrieks  and  sobs 
and  oaths  and  protests  were  heard  on  every  side. 
Some  former  habitues  of  the  Imperial  Court  of  the 
Tuileries  looked  on  with  an  air  of  compassion.  What 
the  yet  more  polished  courtiers  of  the  days  of 
Louis  XIV  and  Louis  XV  would  have  thought  of 
such  a  scene  may  be  left  to  the  imagination. 

The  Parisian  theatres  were  very  busy  during  the 
Exhibition  year.  The  Opera  devoted  itself  far  too 
much  to  '  L'Africaine,'  but  there  were  various 
musical  novelties,  such,  for  instance,  as  '  Le  Capitaine 
Fracasse,'  a  comic  opera  based  on  Theophile  Gautier's 
romance  of  the  same  name,  the  libretto  being  by 
Catulle  Mendes,  who  was  married  to  Judith  Gautier, 
and  the  music  by  Pessard.  Also  Offenbach's  very 
successful '  Madame  Favart,'  which  afterwards  had  a 
long  run  in  London.  The  same  composer's  '  Orphee 
aux  Enfers '  was  revived  with  various  new  features. 
Lecocq's  '  Petit  Due  '  drew  crowds  to  the  Renais- 
sance, thanks  largely  to  Jeanne  Granier,  who  was 


83 

delightful  in  the  title  role,  though  off  the  stage  she 
always  seemed  to  be  as  simple-minded  a  creature 
as  ever  lived.  Her  "bulls "  and  her  blunders 
always  inspired  une  douce  joie.  Wicked  old  Ville- 
messant  of  the  '  Figaro '  once  persuaded  her  that 
she  was  his  illegitimate  daughter,  and  she  did  not 
rest  until  she  had  reproached  her  mother  for  having 
concealed  so  important  a  fact  from  her  during  so 
many  years  !  At  the  Comedie  FranQaise  that  season 
the  chief  "  attraction  "  was  Emile  Augier's  interesting 
piece  '  Les  Fourchambault.'  '  Babiole '  held  the 
stage  at  the  Bouffes,  '  Niniche '  at  the  Varietes,  and 
'  Le  Bebe '  at  the  Gymnase.  Masse's  '  Paul  et 
Virginie  '  drew  many  people  to  the  Theatre  Lyrique, 
and  '  Round  the  World  in  Eighty  Days,'  based  on 
Jules  Verne's  amusing  story,  was  revived  with  equal 
success  at  the  Porte-St. -Martin,  whilst  the  '  Bells  of 
Corneville '  still  jingled  as  merrily  as  ever  at  the 
Folies  Dramatiques.  In  matters  theatrical  the 
following  year,  the  last  of  the  Seventies,  was  that  of 
Busnach's  adaptation  of  Zola's  '  L'Assommoir,'  with 
its  "  real "  washhouse  scene,  and  its  "  real "  pails 
of  hot  water  which  Virginie  and  Gervaise  flung  at 
one  another  prior  to  the  former  receiving  a  castiga- 
tion  d  coups  de  battoir.  That  was  a  sight  which  all 
Paris  rushed  to  see.  It  was  even  more  amusing  than 
Coupeau's  drunkenness.  People  of  more  delicate 
tastes,  however,  infinitely  preferred  Edouard  Pail- 
leron's  little  comedy,  '  L'Etincelle,'  which  was  as 
sparkling  as  its  title  suggested. 

Meanwhile,  Marshal  MacMahon  had  resigned  the 
Presidency.  He  had  been  unwilling  to  give  way  to 
Republican  opinion  on  an  important  military  ques- 
tion, that  of  the  great  army-corps  commands.  Re- 
publicans distrusted  some  of  the  generals  of  the  time, 
and  wished  to  see  them  removed  or  shifted.  In  the 
result  the  Marshal-President  relinquished  his  position 
at  the  end  of  January,  1879,  sending  a  letter  to  the 
Senate  in  which,  after  recalling  his  fifty-three  years 


84  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

of  services  to  France,  he  expressed  the  opinion  that 
the  suggested  changes  in  the  army-corps  commands 
would  prove  detrimental  to  the  country.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Jules  Grevy,  then  President  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  and  seventy-two  years  old. 
A  distinctly  bourgeoise  Republic  was  now  at  hand. 

Before  saying  good-bye  to  the  Seventies  a  few 
omissions  from  my  narrative  may  be  supplied.  In 
'75  Virginie  Dejazet  passed  away  after  a  very  long 
theatrical  career,  for,  born  in  1798,  she  had  made 
her  debut  when  only  five  years  old.  She  was  Sardou's 
first  protectress.  In  '76  we  lost  George  Sand  and 
Felicien  David,  and  in  '77  died  Le^verrier,  the  great 
astronomer  of  the  Paris  Observatory,  and  one  of 
the  discoverers  of  the  planet  Neptune.  In  '78  came 
centenaries  of  Joan  of  Arc  and  Voltaire,  which  were 
duly  celebrated.  Several  horrible  crimes  occurred 
that  same  year — an  attempt  was  made  to  murder 
a  bank  messenger  who  had  £2000  with  him  at  the 
time ;  a  poor  old  milkwoman  was  despatched  by  a 
pair  of  young  scoundrels  named  Barre  and  Lebiez ; 
and  another  woman  was  not  only  killed  but  cut  up 
by  her  "  lover,"  a  man  named  Prevost,  formerly  of 
Napoleon  Ill's  bodyguard.  During  May  half  Paris 
was  shaken  by  a  terrific  explosion  at  some  cartridge 
works  in  the  Rue  Beranger ;  and  in  '79  several 
houses,  erected  over  the  ancient  catacombs  under 
the  upper  part  of  the  Boulevard  St.  Michel,  suddenly 
gave  way.  We  then  learned  that  it  cost  the  city 
£10,000  a  year  to  ensure  the  comparative  safety  of 
the  many  buildings  standing  over  the  excavations. 


V 

THE   DECADE    OF   THE    EIGHTIES 

The  Harvest  of  Death:  Gambetta,  Chanzy,  Grambnt,  Reffye,  Pereire, 
Flaubert,  Offenbach,  Lilian  Neilson,  Mme.  de  Civry,  Mme.  Thiers, 
Blanqui,  the  Blancs,  Hugo,  Girardin,  About,  Monselet,  L'Isle  Adam, 
D'Aurevilly,  Scherer,  Augier,  Labiche,  Littre,  B.  Lepsge,  Cham,  C. 
Bernard,  P.  Bert,  Bertillon  pere.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  Pierre  Bonaparte, 
Marshal  Lebceuf,  etc. — Steamboats  on  the  Seine — Pneumatic  Clocks 
— Church,  State  and  Education — Expulsion  of  Religious  Orders — 
Libel  Suits :  Colonel  Jung,  General  de  Cissey  and  Mme.  de  Kaulla — 
— Father  Didon's  Affair — Gambetta  and  List  Voting — The  Union 
Generate  Crash — My  home  at  Boulogne-sur-Seine — Pichio  the  painter 
— Ohnet's  '  Ironmaster.' 

DURING  the  decade  of  the  Eighties  death  was  very 
busy  among  eminent  Frenchmen,  many  of  whom 
were  closely  associated  with  one  or  another  phase 
of  Parisian  life.  One  loss  was,  from  the  national 
standpoint,  of  more  moment  than  all  others  :  A  few 
minutes  before  the  year  1882  expired  Gambetta 
died  at  his  little  suburban  residence  of  Les  Jardies, 
Ville  d'Avray.  He  was  but  forty-three  years  and 
eight  months  old,  and  the  suddenness  of  his  death, 
due  to  complications  which  arose  after  he  had 
accidentally  injured  his  hand  and  wrist  whilst 
endeavouring  to  rectify  a  defective  revolver,  came 
as  a  great  shock  to  everybody.  Ever  since  the  war 
of  1870-71,  however,  he  had  been  regarded  as  the 
personification  of  "  La  Revanche,"  and  no  sooner 
was  his  death  known  than  there  came  a  general  rise 
in  all  funds  and  securities  at  the  Bourse,  the  world 
of  speculators  opining  that  his  disappearance  from 
the  scene  would  favour  the  continuance  of  peace. 

85 


86  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

But  France  bestowed  splendid  obsequies  on  his 
remains,  which  for  two  days  lay  in  state  at  the 
Palais  Bourbon  and  were  afterwards  followed  to 
a  temporary  resting-place  at  Pere  Lachaise  cemetery 
by  a  procession  two  and  a  half  miles  in  length,  being 
subsequently  removed  to  Nice  in  accordance  with 
his  father's  desire.  Curiously  enough  two  days  before 
the  funeral  in  Paris,  General  Chanzy,  who  in  the 
event  of  another  war  with  Germany  would  have 
acted  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  French  armies, 
died  even  more  suddenly  at  Chalons-sur-Marne,  and 
this,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Boursiers,  also  made  for 
peace.  The  idea  of  "La  Revanche  "  was  certainly 
not  dead  (it  blazed  up  again  hi  General  Boulanger's 
time)  and  no  patriotic  Frenchman  could  entirely 
banish  it  from  his  thoughts  so  long  as  Alsace- 
Lorraine  remained  in  German  hands,  but  at  the 
time  of  Gambetta's  death  its  realization  seemed  to 
be  postponed  sine,  die. 

Several  notable  deaths  occurred  in  1880.  Among 
those  who  then  passed  away  were  a  few  men  promi- 
nently associated  with  the  Franco-German  War— 
among  them  being,  for  instance,  the  Due  de  Gramont, 
the  Foreign  Minister  by  whom  that  war  had  been 
formally  declared;  General  de  Reffye,  the  inventor 
of  the  mitrailleuse,  and  General  Vinoy,  who  signed 
the  capitulation  of  Paris.  The  last  named  had 
reached  the  age  of  eighty,  but  his  demise  was 
undoubtedly  hastened  by  his  removal  from  the 
Chancellorship  of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  in  which 
office  he  had  been  charged  with  showing  laxity  and 
favouritism.  In'  the  same  year  died  Hippolyte 
Passy,  one  of  the  few  French  partizans  of  Free  Trade, 
and  Isaac  Pereire,  the  financier  who  founded  the 
Credit  Mobilier  bank  at  the  time  when  Baron 
Haussmann  was  transforming  the  face  of  Paris. 
The  Credit  Mobilier  ultimately  came  to  grief,  but 
it  certainly  helped  to  endow  Paris  with  many  new 
streets  and  boulevards. 


IN  THE   EIGHTIES^?  87 

Literature  suffered  that  same  year  the  loss  of 
Gustave  Flaubert,  whose  best  work — '  Madame  Bo- 
vary  '  and  '  Salammbo  ' — had  been  done  long  pre- 
viously under  the  Second  Empire.  But  although 
his  later  productions  were  distinctly  inferior  to 
those  romances,  he  retained  great  influence  until 
the  last.  From  him  proceeded  both  Maupassant 
and  Zola  and,  in  some  degree,  Alphonse  Daudet 
also.  The  death  of  Paul  de  Musset  severed  one  of 
the  few  remaining  links  with  the  palmy  days  of  the 
Romantic  school.  In  the  autumn  Offenbach  died 
very  unexpectedly,  that  is  a  few  hours  after  attend- 
ing a  rehearsal  of  '  Le  Cabaret  des  Lilas '  at  the 
Theatre  des  Varietes.  He  had  been  suffering  from 
gout,  and  it  suddenly  affected  his  heart  and  carried 
him  off.  A  few  months  previously,  that  is  in  August, 
the  English  stage  had  suffered  a  real  loss  by  the 
death  of  Lilian  Neilson,  who  was  taken  ill  whilst 
driving  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne.  Already  renowned 
for  her  impersonations  of  Rosalind,  Juliet  and 
Beatrice,  she  was,  I  believe,  only  about  thirty  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  her  sudden  demise.  She  was 
born,  it  has  been  said,  at  Saragossa,  of  a  Spanish 
father  and  an  English  mother. 

In  November,  Paris  heard  of  the  death  of  a  woman 
whose  misadventures  had  often  contributed  to  the 
gossip  of  the  Boulevards.  This  was  the  Comtesse 
de  Civry,  a  daughter  of  the  eccentric  Duke  Charles  II 
of  Brunswick,  famous  for  his  diamonds,  his  painted 
face,  and  his  flaxen  wig.  Driven  from  his  throne, 
the  Duke  long  had  his  home  in  Paris.  Madame  de 
Civry  was  said  to  be  his  child  by  a  morganatic 
marriage,  and  until  she  was  eighteen  years  of  age 
he  provided  for  her.  But  she  came  under  the 
influence  of  the  famous  Pere  Lacordaire,  who  con- 
verted her  from  the  Lutheran  to  the  Catholic  faith, 
much  to  the  horror  and  indignation  of  her  father, 
who  from  that  moment  disowned  her.  Her  marriage 
to  the  Count  de  Civry,  a  nobleman  of  slender  means, 


88  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

did  not  improve  matters.  There  was  litigation 
between  the  Countess  and  her  father,  and  this  was 
perpetuated  by  her  son  after  Duke  Charles  had  died 
and  left  his  entire  wealth  to  the  city  of  Geneva, 
where  he  had  found  an  asylum  in  his  last  years. 
The  Civrys  were  unable  to  substantiate  their  claims 
to  any  of  the  property,  and  the  son,  after  figuring 
in  various  scandalous  affairs,  disappeared  from 
public  view. 

Thiers's  widow  passed  away  a  month  or  so  after 
Mme.  de  Civry,  dying  in  the  house  on  the  Place 
Saint  Georges  which  the  State  had  erected  for  her 
husband  in  place  of  the  one  which  the  Communalists 
demolished  during  their  insurrection.  Mme.  Thiers 
had  been  drooping  ever  since  the  autumn,  when  she 
attended  the  inauguration  of  her  husband's  statue 
at  Saint  Germain-en-Laye.  It  was,  I  remember, 
a  most  horrible  day,  but  although  the  rain  poured 
in  torrents  it  quite  failed  to  check  a  large  body  of 
demonstrators,  partizans  of  the  Commune,  whose 
clamorous  insults  prevented  the  speech  of  Jules 
Simon  from  being  heard  and  sorely  affected  the 
great  statesman's  widow.  What  would  have  been 
the  position  of  France  all  these  years  if  the  Parisian 
Bolsheviks  of  1871  had  triumphed,  it  is  impossible 
to  say.  Thiers  certainly  made  various  mistakes 
in  dealing  with  the  insurrection,  but  it  had  to  be 
suppressed,  and  he  rendered  as  good  service  to  his 
country  in  that  respect  as  he  did  in  liberating  the 
territory  from  the  German  occupation.  That  the 
foul  aspersions  cast  upon  his  memory  at  the  ceremony 
of  Saint  Germain-en-Laye  dealt  his  widow  a  mortal 
blow  is  certain.  She  personally  was  one  of  the 
best  of  women,  simple  and  engaging  in  her  ways 
and  possessed  of  no  little  culture. 

The  demonstration  at  Saint  Germain-en-Laye  was 
one  of  the  consequences  of  the  amnesty  passed  in 
favour  of  most  of  the  Communalists  earlier  in  the  year. 
This  enabled  many  who  were  in  exile  to  return  to 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  89 

France.  Henri  Rochefort  had  a  triumphal  reception 
when  he  arrived  in  Paris  towards  the  middle  of 
August.  There  was  also  an  attempt  at  a  demonstra- 
tion at  Pere  Lachaise  cemetery,  in  memory  of  the 
final  stand  which  the  Communalists  made  there  and 
the  summary  execution  of  the  survivors  there,  by 
order  of  General  de  Galliffet,  after  they  had  been 
captured  by  the  troops. 

Early  in  1881,  the  death  of  that  old  revolutionary 
Auguste  Blanqui  again  supplied  the  Communalists 
with  an  opportunity  to  demonstrate.  A  column  of 
over  1000  ex-insurgents  followed  Blanqui's  remains 
to  the  cemetery.  Prominent  in  the  procession 
was  Rochefort,  whom  I  had  not  seen  since  his  court- 
martial  at  the  time  of  the  Commune.  He  carried 
himself  as  jauntily  as  ever,  but  his  hair  had  become 
quite  white.  Auguste  Blanqui  and  his  elder  brother 
Adolphe,  the  political  economist,  were  the  sons  of 
a  Girondist  member  of  the  National  Convention. 
Adolphe  was  a  very  able  man  of  moderate  views, 
but  in  Auguste  the  revolutionary  opinions  of  his 
father  were  accentuated  to  an  extreme  degree. 
His  life  was  one  long  series  of  conspiracies,  and  thirty- 
seven  of  his  six-and-seventy  years  were  spent  in 
prison.  In  these  later  days  there  have  been  various 
attempts  to  rehabilitate  Blanqui's  memory,  but  he 
was  a  very  shifty  customer,  one  who  was  always 
minded  to  leave  his  confederates  in  the  lurch  in 
any  moment  of  danger,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
on  one  occasion  he  betrayed  his  friend  Armand 
Barbes — an  extremist  but  a  high-minded  man- 
in  the  hope  of  thereby  saving  his  own  skin. 

In  spite,  however,  of  all  his  slimness  Nemesis 
perpetually  dogged  Blanqui's  footsteps.  In  vain, 
from  time  to  time,  did  he  endeavour  to  hide  himself. 
His  lurking  places  were  always  discovered  by  the 
police,  and  fresh  incarceration  followed.  In  Louis- 
Philippe's  days,  when  the  famous  old  abbey  of  Mont 
Saint  Michel  had  been  converted  into  a  state  prison, 


90 

Blanqui  underwent  imprisonment  there  for  a 
term  of  several  years.  There  have  been  grossly 
exaggerated  accounts  of  the  rigour  of  his  confine- 
ment, but  records  exist  showing  that  he  was  well 
provided  with  creature  comforts.  During  the  siege 
of  Paris  he  repeatedly  tried  to  overthrow  the 
National  Defence  Government  and  he  afterwards 
tried  to  stir  up  risings  in  Southern  France.  These 
failing,  he  went  into  hiding  once  more,  but  was 
traced,  arrested  and  lodged  in  a  fort  at  Marseilles. 
Thiers  afterwards  pardoned  him,  but  he  again  took 
to  plotting,  and  was,  indeed,  hiding  in  Paris  when 
he  was  overtaken  by  his  last  illness.  Like  Delescluze, 
Blanqui  had  the  appearance,  the  eyes,  the  facial 
expression  of  a  fanatic,  one  carried  away  by  a 
fixed  idea.  All  his  policy  was  destructive.  He  was 
bent  on  sweeping  everything  away  in  the  very  best 
Bolshevik  fashion.  His  views  were  summed  up  in 
the  motto  which  he  assumed :  Neither  God  nor 
Master. 

The  most  notable  death  in  the  literary  world 
during  the  whole  decade  of  the  Eighties  was  that 
of  Victor  Hugo,  whose  funeral  was  one  of  the 
most  imposing  spectacles  Paris  has  ever  known. 
Others  whom  we  lost  during  this  period  were  the 
brothers  Louis  and  Charles  Blanc.  The  former's 
excursions  into  politics  were  not  fortunate,  but  some 
of  his  writings  were  of  real  value.  Henri  Martin, 
well  known  by  his  painstaking,  conscientious,  though 
scarcely  brilliant  History  of  France,  died  in  1883. 
He  was  more  accurate  in  many  of  his  facts  than 
Michelet  (who  died  in  '74),  but  he  lacked  the  latter's 
graphic  genius.  Emile  de  Girardin,  long  the  premier 
political  journalist  of  Paris,  predeceased  Martin 
by  two  years.  Edmond  About  passed  away  in  '85. 
His  last  years  were  likewise  given  over  to  political 
journalism,  the  creed  which  he  expounded  being 
moderate  Republicanism.  His  secession  from  litera- 
ture was  for  the  latter  a  real  loss.  Gifted  with  wit 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  91 

and  fancy,  he  had  shone  as  a  writer  of  fiction.  It 
was  claimed  also  for  this  son  of  the  lost  Lorraine 
(the  Germans  expelled  him  from  the  annexed 
territory)  that  he  was  one  of  the  very  best  prose 
writers  that  France  had  produced  since  the  days  of 
Voltaire. 

Three  years  after  About,  died  Charles  Monselet, 
the  most  famous  bon  vivant  of  the  Boulevardian 
world  and  an  extremely  versatile  writer.  It  was, 
I  think,  his  '  Almanach  des  Gourmands '  which 
inspired  Blanchard  Jerrold  to  produce,  under  the 
pseudonym  of  Fin-Bee,  a  corresponding  volume,  called 
'  The  Epicure's  Year  Book,'  for  the  benefit  of  English 
gastronomists.  In  physique  Monselet  was  short, 
round  and  chubby.  If  it  had  not  been  for  his  long 
hair  he  might  easily  have  passed  for  a  plump  little 
friar  who  certainly  did  not  feed  on  hip  and  haw. 
Monselet  could  discourse  learnedly  and  enthusiasti- 
cally on  the  subject  of  sauces,  but  he  was  also  expert 
in  fashioning  a  madrigal,  in  combining  a  set  of 
triolets,  in  turning  out  a  sprightly  l  Chronique  de 
Paris,'  and  telling  a  witty  tale. 

A  year  after  his  death  we  lost  two  other  notable 
literary  men :  first,  Villiers  de  1' Isle- Adam,  the  heir 
to  a  famous  name,  for  he  was  a  direct  lineal  de- 
scendant of  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Order  of  St. 
John,  who  in  the  sixteenth  century  so  vigorously 
defended  Rhodes  against  the  second  Soliman,  and 
to  whom  the  island  of  Malta  was  afterwards  assigned 
by  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  '  L' Amour  supreme ' 
and  c  Les  Contes  Cruels '  were  perhaps  the  best 
work  of  this  somewhat  Bohemian  nineteenth-century 
scion  of  one  of  the  oldest  houses  of  the  French 
noblesse.  He  was  followed  to  the  grave  by  Barbey 
d'Aurevilly,  an  octogenarian  long  noted  for  his 
eccentricity  of  attire  as  well  as  for  the  originality 
of  his  writings,  which  were  sometimes  brutal  to 
excess,  and  at  others  bespoke  an  imaginativeness 
which  some  may  have  thought  akin  to  insanity. 


92 

Withal,  whether  in  '  Les  Diabohques '  or  '  Une 
vieille  Maitresse,'  Barbey's  style  was  always  brilliant 
and  full  of  verve.  Edmond  Scherer,  the  critic,  died  in 
the  same  year.  His  judgments  were  sometimes  too 
dogmatic,  and  some  folk  imputed  to  him  a  narrow- 
ness of  views  due  to  the  fact  that  he  was  a  Pro- 
testant ;  but  the  clarity  and  precision  of  his  style 
could  not  be  disputed.  Another  death  which 
occurred  in  1889  was  that  of  Emile  Augier,  to  whom 
I  have  previously  referred,  and  who  ranked,  even 
above  Dumas  fils,  as  the  premier  dramatic  author  of 
France.  Augier's  work  was  often  of  real  social 
import.  It  testified  to  a  profound  knowledge  of 
his  contemporaries  and  a  very  keen  sense  of  the 
dramatic.  Quite  different  was  the  talent  of  Eugene 
Labiche,  who  died  the  previous  year.  He  was  one 
of  the  most  entertaining  vaudevillistes  that  France 
has  ever  had.  His  gaiety,  his  fancy,  his  profuseness 
seemed  inexhaustible.  Yet  this  man  of  merriment 
was  also  a  man  de  bonne  compagnie,  and  contrived 
to  force  the  doors  of  the  French  Academy  nine  years 
before  his  death. 

That  mention  of  the  Academy  recalls  to  mind 
its  famous  dictionary,  which,  like  Penelope's  web, 
is  always  in  the  making  but  never  finished.  The 
Immortals  of  the  Institute  at  least  had  the  good 
sense  to  bestow  one  of  their  historical  armchairs 
on  the  most  famous  lexicographer  of  his  period, 
Emile  Littre,  and  this  they  did  in  despite  of  the 
frantic  protests  of  the  right  reverend  Monseigneur 
Dupanloup,  "  eagle  of  Orleans,"  who,  horrified  by 
the  admission  of  a  Positivist  to  the  sacred  precincts, 
promptly  resigned  his  academical  position.  Littre 
died  in  1881,  and  during  the  same  year  France  lost 
another  great  scholar,  Paulin  Paris,  famous  for  his 
studies  on  the  literature  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Victor  Masse,  the  composer  of  whom  I  have 
already  spoken,*  died  in  1884.  Three  years  later 

*  See  pp.  52,  69,  ante. 


IN  THE   EIGHTIES  93 

came  the  death  of  Pasdeloup,  the  chef  d'orchestre,  to 
whom  Paris  owed  a  debt  of  gratitude,  for  to  him  was 
it  first  beholden  for  those  popular  concerts  which 
made  thousands  of  people  acquainted  with  the 
beauties  of  a  great  range  of  classical  music.  Colonne 
arose  afterwards.  Passing  to  the  realm  of  painting 
we  lost  the  courtly  Dubufe  in  '83,  Bastien  Lepage, 
of  the  open-air  school,  in  '84,  and  Jules  Dupre, 
known  for  his  landscapes,  in  '89.  Ghana,  the  cari- 
caturist, died  in  the  same  year  as  Bastien  Lepage. 
He  was  then  the  oldest  member  of  the  staft  of  that 
famous  satirical  journal  the  '  Charivari,'  for  which, 
I  believe,  he  began  to  draw  before  he  was  out  of  his 
teens.  His  artistic  powers  were  very  limited,  how- 
ever— he  could  not  be  compared  for  a  moment  with 
his  friends  Gavarni  and  Honore  Daumier  (the  latter 
of  whom  passed  away  in  '79) — his  figures  were  always 
the  same,  rough  stock  types  of  Monnier's  Monsieur 
Prudhomme,  Madame  Gibou,  and  so  forth,  but  at 
the  same  time  they  were  amusing,  and  the  "  legends  " 
placed  beneath  the  drawings  were  invariably  witty. 
You  could  not  help  smiling  when  you  read  them, 
even  if  you  did  not  laugh  outright. 

Cham  was  really  the  Vicomte  Amedee  de  Noe, 
and  belonged  to  a  very  ancient  family  of  Southern 
France.  He  was  an  intimate  friend  of  my  father's, 
and  I  experienced  many  little  acts  of  kindness  from 
him.  He  was  a  conspicuous  afternoon  figure  on  the 
Boulevards  in  the  days  when  the  Boulevards  were 
at  their  best.  He  carried  himself  like  a  d'Artagnan, 
and  was  indeed  of  the  d'Artagnan  type,  slim,  wiry, 
muscular,  with  perhaps  just  something  about  his 
figure  and  his  moustaches  that  suggested  the  Knight 
of  La  Mancha.  An  expert  swordsman,  he  fought 
several  duels,  in  which  he  generally  contented  himself 
with  pricking  his  man.  His  martial  appearance 
would  have  been  perfect  but  for  the  companion 
which  he  always  took  with  him  on  his  walks  abroad 
—this  companion  being  a  tiny  toy  terrierVwhich  he 


94  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

invariably  carried  on  his  arm.  I  must  have  met 
Cham  scores  of  times  on  the  Boulevards,  but  I  do 
not  remember  ever  seeing  the  little  dog  walk.  It 
reposed  on  its  master's  knees  when  the  latter  seated 
himself  at  one  of  the  tables  outside  the  Cafe  Riche. 
It  was  carried  thither  virtually  every  day  to  see  all 
the  celebrities  at  "  the  hour  of  absinthe,"  and  every 
evening  it  was  carried  back  to  Batignolles,  where 
Cham  had  his  abode.  Anybody  who  might  have 
twitted  M.  de  Noe  about  his  little  dog  would  have 
exposed  himself  to  a  challenge  and  a  sword  thrust. 

The  losses  of  the  French  scientific  world  during  the 
Eighties  included  Paul  Bert  and  the  elder  Bertillon. 
They  were  predeceased  in  '78  by  Claude  Bernard, 
who  at  the  time  of  his  death  ranked  as  the  foremost 
representative  of  experimental  science.  His  dis- 
coveries in  connection  with  the  digestive  organs  and 
the  nervous  system  had  made  him  famous  all  the 
world  over.  Paul  Bert,  the  physiologist,  abandoned 
in  his  later  years  the  pursuit  of  science  to  embrace 
a  political  career,  becoming  for  a  time  Minister  of 
Public  Instruction  in  Gambetta's  Ministry,  and  later 
French  Resident  in  Tonquin,  where  he  died  in  1886. 
At  an  earlier  period  great  controversies  had  raged 
around  his  name,  for  he  was  a  keen  vivisectionist, 
and  it  was  asserted  that  many  of  his  experiments 
with  dogs  were  extremely  cruel.  The  period  was 
distinctly  an  experimental  one  in  matters  of  physi- 
ology, and  there  may  have  been  abuses  on  the  part 
of  some  over-zealous  scientists.  But  I  cannot 
blame  Charcot  for  experimenting  with  absinthe  on 
animals,  for  although  no  action  was  then  taken  by 
the  powers  to  restrict  the  sale  of  that  pernicious 
drug,  Charcot  at  least  proved  how  deleterious  were 
its  effects. 

The  study  of  hypnotism  and  suggestion  also  gave 
rise  to  many  experiments  about  this  time,  and  in 
1880  or  '81  there  was,  I  remember,  a  case  in  which 
a  young  man  named  Didier  was  hypnotized  by  two 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  95 

doctors  in  presence  of  the  judges  of  the  Paris  Appeal 
Court,  and  became  transformed  into  a  kind  of  raging 
lion.  He  suffered  from  a  nervous  disorder  and  was 
adjudged  to  be  irresponsible  for  his  actions.  The 
elder  Bertillon,  whom  I  mentioned  just  now,  was  a 
very  distinguished  man  who  made  a  particular  study 
of  demography.  I  have  always  understood,  more- 
over, that  although  his  son,  Alphonse,  who  died 
in  1914,  is  credited  with  having  devised  the  anthro- 
pometrical  system  of  measuring  the  different  parts 
of  the  body  with  a  view  to  establishing  a  person's 
identity  when  he  is  under  arrest,  the  idea  originated 
with  Bertillon  pere,  and  the  first  experiments  were 
made  by  him,  the  son  only  perfecting  the  system  at 
a  later  date. 

Viollet-le-Duc,  archaeologist  and  architect,  who 
so  ably  restored  many  French  edifices  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  notably  the  Empress  Eugenie's  feudal  castle 
of  Pierrefonds  near  Compiegne,  died,  I  find,  in  1879. 
Two  years  later  came  the  death  of  Lefuel,  the  archi- 
tect who  completed  the  Louvre  and  joined  it  to  the 
Tuileries.  His  Pavilion  de  Flore  still  remains,  but 
the  Tuileries,  as  I  have  already  related,  perished 
during  the  Commune.  A  year  after  Lefuel's  death 
its  ruins  were  sold  for  £1300,  the  State  reserving  to 
itself  all  rights  to  any  works  of  art  which  might  be 
found  among  the  debris.  Whether  anything  still 
exists  of  VioUet-le-Duc's  masterpiece  at  Pierrefonds 
I  cannot  say.  The  ruthless  German  invader  may 
have  destroyed  it. 

In  attempting  this  imperfect  list  of  the  nota- 
bilities of  France  who  passed  away  during  the  Eighties, 
I  find  my  footsteps  constantly  pursued  by  memories 
of  the  Second  Empire.  Thus,  in  March,  '81,  there 
died  old  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  who  had  been  for  a 
considerable  period  Foreign  Minister  to  Napoleon  III. 
He  was  not  lacking  in  sagacity.  He  foresaw  much 
of  the  trouble  with  Prussia,  and  contrived  to  avert 
it  during  his  tenure  of  office  at  the  Quai  d'Orsay. 


96  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

But  he  ended  by  disagreeing  with  the  Emperor 
on  important  questions — notably  the  bolstering  up 
of  the  Pope's  temporal  power — and  was  at  last 
virtually  constrained  to  resign  office.  From  that 
moment  the  Empire's  foreign  policy  became  more 
and  more  erratic,  as  if  indeed  it  were  courting  disaster. 
About  the  same  time  as  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  died,  there 
passed  away  a  member  of  the  Imperial  family  who 
did  the  regime  an  infinity  of  harm,  that  is  Prince 
Pierre  Bonaparte,  who  murdered  Victor  Noir  a  few 
months  before  the  war  of  1870.  His  last  years  were 
spent  in  strict  retirement  at  Versailles.  During 
the  war  his  wife,  a  seamstress  of  Luxemburg  named 
Ruffin,  kept  a  milliner's  shop  in  Bond  Street  in  order 
to  support  the  family.  Until  Napoleon  III  died  at 
Chislehurst,  Prince  Pierre  was  always  cadging  him 
for  money,  regardless  of  the  harm  that  he  had  done 
to  the  Empire  by  his  wild,  passionate  violence.  It  was 
reserved  to  his  son,  Prince  Roland,  a  very  different 
type  of  Bonaparte  and,  like  his  kinsman  Lucien,  a 
man  of  talent,  scholarship  and  culture,  to  restore 
the  family  fortunes,  which  he  did  by  marrying  the 
only  daughter  of  old  Blanc,  the  founder  of  the  Monte 
Carlo  gaming-tables.  That  marriage  made  Prince 
Roland  a  millionaire,  and  as  he  put  his  wealth,  derived 
from  the  losses  of  many  foolish  gamesters,  to  good 
and  enlightened  use,  there-  is  no  reason  to  blame  him 
for  it.  Prince  Roland's  daughter,  Marie,  became 
by  marriage  Princess  George  of  Greece. 

I  will  add  just  one  more  name  to  this  necrological 
list.  Again  it  is  one  associated  with  the  Second 
Empire  and  its  downfall,  being  that  of  Marshal 
Lebceuf,  who  on  the  death  of  Marshal  Niel  in  1869, 
succeeded  him  as  Minister  of  War.  On  Lebceuf's 
memory  rest  heavy  responsibilities  for  the  short- 
comings of  the  French  army  when  the  Franco- 
German  War  began.  He  roundly  declared  that 
absolutely  everything  was  ready  for  the  campaign, 
that  not  even  a  gaiter-button  was  missing  among 


IN  THE   EIGHTIES  97 

the  entire  forces.  The  very  first  days,  however, 
revealed  the  general  unpreparedness  for  a  great 
struggle,  the  lack  of  all  sorts  of  supplies,  the  deficiencies 
in  the  strength  of  many  regiments.  During  nearly 
eighteen  years  after  that  war  of  disaster  Lebceuf 
was  able  to  meditate  on  the  enormity  of  his  crime 
against  his  country.  He  must  have  known  the 
truth,  and,  had  he  revealed  it  to  the  Emperor,  the 
latter  might  have  shrunk  from  the  idea  of  encounter- 
ing Germany  in  the  field.  But  the  Marshal  let  things 
take  their  course  until  a  time  arrived  when  war 
could  no  longer  be  averted. 

The  winter  of  1879-80  was  particularly  severe  in 
Paris,  the  Seine  was  frozen  over,  and  I  well  remember 
the  striking  spectacle  offered  by  the  subsequent 
debacle,  when  the  ice  broke  into  great  jagged 
blocks,  which  were  whirled  down  the  river,  doing  no 
little  damage  to  the  steamboat-piers,  bridges,  barges, 
floating-baths,  and  washhouses,  etc.  It  was,  I  think, 
during  the  Eighties  (perhaps,  however,  in  one  of 
the  last  Seventies)  that  steamboats  of  a  new  type 
were  provided  for  the  conveyance  of  passengers  by 
river  from  one  to  the  other  end  of  Paris,  and  also 
to  certain  suburban  spots  beside  the  Seine.  Some- 
what small,  but  of  pleasing  aspect,  compact,  well 
fitted  and  speedy,  the  new  boats  at  once  secured 
plenty  of  patronage.  I  find  that  at  the  advent  of 
the  Great  War  the  service  was  carried  on  by  the 
Compagnie  generate  des  Bateaux  Parisiens,  which 
had  a  flotilla  of  ninety-six  boats,  some  of  them  plying 
between  Charenton  and  Auteuil  and  others  between 
the  Tuileries  Quay  and  Suresnes.  The  engines  of 
the  flotilla  represented  9070  h.p.,  and  the  boats  were 
capable  of  carrying  30,700  passengers.  The  extent 
to  which  they  were  patronized  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  in  1911,  17,300,000;  in  1912,  17,160,000;  and 
in  1913,  16,408,000  passengers  were  carried.  Un- 
favourable weather  appears  to  have  been  the  cause 
of  the  falling  off  in  the  last-named  years. 

H 


98 

In  February,  1880,  there  was  a  sudden  outbreak 
of  typhus  in  Paris,  resulting  in  fully  a  hundred 
deaths.  During  the  spring  the  first  public  pneumatic 
clocks  were  installed  in  the  city.  There  are  nowadays 
more  than  a  hundred  of  them,  and  the  service  also 
regulates  some  6000  private  clocks.  Further,  there 
is  another  service  which  provides  for  the  unification 
of  time  by  means  of  electricity. 

It  was  also  in  1880  that  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps 
launched  that  famous  Panama  Canal  Company— 
which  was  destined  to  end  so  disastrously.  For  the 
rest  the  year  was  very  largely  one  of  acute  political 
turmoil  arising  from  a  bitter  conflict  between  the 
State  and  the  Church  with  respect  to  educational 
matters.  No  love  was  lost  between  the  Church  and 
the  Republic.  The  former  had  abetted  every  effort 
that  was  made  to  restore  monarchy  in  France,  and 
was  training  thousands  of  children  to  believe  that  a 
republican  regime  was  odious  in  the  eyes  of  God, 
Who  had  commanded  obedience  to  Kings  and  Princes. 
In  1879  Jules  Ferry,  on  becoming  Education  Minister 
under  the  premiership  of  M.  de  Freycinet,  resolved 
to  put  down  these  intrigues.  He  secured  the  ex- 
clusion of  clerics  from  the  Upper  Council  of  Public 
Instruction  and  the  limitation  of  the  right  to  confer 
degrees  to  the  State  Faculties  only.  Further,  he 
brought  before  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  a  general 
education  bill,  one  clause  of  which,  the  seventh, 
prohibited  any  member  of  any  unauthorized  religious 
association  from  directing  any  public  or  private 
school  whatever. 

This  violently-debated  clause,  which  was  levelled 
chiefly  at  the  Jesuits,  who  were  largely  responsible 
for  the  intrigues  of  recent  years,  was  adopted  by 
the  Chamber,  but  rejected  by  the  Senate,  whereupon 
the  former  body  called  upon  the  Government  to 
enforce  such  laws  as  already  existed  against  un- 
authorized religious  communities.  The  authorities 
then  issued  decrees  ordering  the  Jesuits  to  close  their 


IN  THE   EIGHTIES  99 

schools,  but  granting  to  the  other  unauthorized 
orders  a  delay  of  three  months  to  solicit  permission 
to  pursue  educational  work.  The  so-called  Christian 
Brothers,  being  an  authorized  community,  were 
exempted  from  those  provisions.  On  the  Jesuits 
refusing  to  obey  they  were  ejected  (June,  1880)  from 
their  house  in  Paris,  in  spite  of  the  turbulent  demon- 
strations of  their  partisans ;  and  when  another 
three  months  had  expired  similar  action  was  taken 
in  various  parts  of  France,  including  the  capital, 
against  other  recalcitrant  communities.  The  Parisian 
Carmelites  and  Barnabites,  like  those  of  Toulouse, 
Bordeaux,  Saint-Omer,  etc.,  suffered  the  same 
experience  as  the  Jesuit  fathers.  Again  there 
came  tumultuous  scenes.  The  "  religious  world " 
was  all  agog  throughout  the  country.  When  No- 
vember arrived  one  heard  that  the  authorities  had 
closed  in  all  eleven  unauthorized  houses  with  120 
inmates  in  Paris,  and  384  with  7400  inmates  in  the 
provinces.  Apart  from  the  Christian  Brethren  and 
certain  sisterhoods,  virtually  only  the  Carthusians 
and  the  Trappists  remained  in  their  accustomed 
abodes. 

All  these  events,  all  the  unrest,  anger,  and  even 
fury,  found  echoes  in  the  Legislature,  the  pulpit, 
and  elsewhere,  as  far,  in  fact,  as  the  racecourse  and 
the  duelling  ground.  Clemenceau — it  was  the  period 
of  his  greatest  political  violence — girded  at  Ferry 
for  his  half-measures  and  his  failure  to  bring  in 
legislation  in  order  to  suspend  the  irremovability 
of  the  judges,  many  of  whom,  being  Clericalists,* 
upheld  the  pretensions  of  the  religious  orders.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  Breton  Royalist  deputy,  M.  de 
Baudry  d'Asson,  supported  the  Communities,  and 
fomented  scenes  of  extreme  violence  in  the  Chamber, 
whence  he  had  to  be  removed  manu  militari.  Mean- 
while preachers  thundered  against  the  authorities  in 
the  churches,  declaring  that  the  reign  of  Antichrist 


100  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

had  come,  and  even  calling  on  true  believers  to  over- 
throw the  wicked  atheistical  Government  of  the 
Republic. 

That  summer  Robert  the  Devil  proved  a  great 
(and,  as  it  happened,  a  true)  "  tip  "  for  the  Grand 
Prix  de  Paris  by  reason  merely  of  his  name,  which 
in  some  mysterious  way  was  regarded  as  symbolical 
of  the  Government  of  the  time.  In  addition,  one 
of  the  Kcechlins  of  Mulhouse,  a  brother-in-law  of 
Andrieux  the  Prefect  of  Police,  fought  a  duel  with 
Rochef ort,  whom,  after  a  bout  of  barely  two  minutes 
duration,  he  wounded  severely.* 

Rochefort  was  a  defendant  in  one  of  the  scan- 
dalous libel  actions  which  were  tried  that  year. 
There  were  all  sorts  of  nasty  rumours  abroad  respect- 
ing certain  happenings  at  the  War  Office.  A 
Boulevardian  journalist,  known  as  Ivan  de  Woes- 
tyne,  brought  various  charges  against  Colonel  Jung, 
a  prominent  official  of  the  Ministry  and  the  author 
of  a  clever,  suggestive,  but  not  absolutely  convincing 
book  on  the  perpetual  mystery  of  the  Man  with  the 
Iron  Mask.  Woestyne  charged  the  Colonel  with 
abstracting,  or  being  privy  to  the  abstraction  of, 
important  documents.  General  Ney  d'Elchingen, 
a  grandson  of  the  famous  Marshal,  was  said  to  have 
supplied  the  information,  but  on  appearing  as  a 
witness  he  declared  that  he  had  no  charge  whatever 
to  bring  against  Colonel  Jung.  This  entailed  the 
conviction  of  M.  de  Woestyne  for  libel,  and  he  had 
to  pay  £200  as  damages  in  addition  to  a  fine  of  £40. 
A  few  years  later  General  Ney  died  under  mysterious 
circumstances  by  his  own  hand.  The  whole  Boule- 
vardian world  then  asserted  that  he  had  killed 
himself  to  avoid  the  exposure  of  certain  offences 

*  When  Andrieux  went  to  expel  the  Jesuits  from  their  establishment 
he  was  dressed  in  the  height  of  fashion,  and  wore  immaculate  lavender 
kid  gloves.  Some  folk  construed  that  as  a  delicate  attention,  but  most 
Parisians,  who  are  gifted  with  a  keen  sense  of  the  ridiculous,  poked  fun  at 
the  dandy  Prefect. 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  101 

which  would  have  covered  him  with  disgrace.  The 
extremist  press  made  much  of  this  affair,  and  no 
action  for  libel  being  possible,  as  Ney  was  dead, 
was  very  outspoken  in  its  language. 

The  second  notable  libel  action  of  1880  was  one 
in  which  Rochefort  and  another  journalist,  Laisant, 
were  co-defendants,  their  prosecutor  being  General 
de    Cissey,    ex-Minister    of    War.     This    case    was 
virtually  a  new  and  revised  version  of  the  Jung- 
Woestyne  affair.     Colonel  Jung  had  married  a  woman 
of  foreign  birth — Austrian  or  Russian,   I  think— 
and  known  as  the  Baroness  de  Kaulla.     She  and  her 
husband   separated,    and   it   was   alleged   that   she 
afterwards  became  the  mistress  of  General  de  Cissey. 
That   in   itself   would    have   been   of   little    public 
interest,  but  a, report  spread  that  this  woman  was 
really  a  spy  in  the  pay  of   Germany.     There  was 
possibly  some  truth  in  that  assertion,  but  I  hesitate 
to  believe  that  General  de  Cissey  ever  confided  any 
military   secrets   to   her.     He   had   many   enemies, 
however,   particularly   among   the   Republican   ex- 
tremists, on  account  of  the  vigour  which  he  had 
displayed  during  the  street-fighting  in  Paris  at  the 
close  of  the  Commune,  and  thus  all  sorts  of  more  or 
less  vague  charges  were  brought  against  him,  notably 
by  Rochefort  and  Laisant,  as  I  have  indicated.     As 
they  failed  to  substantiate  their  assertions  they  were 
found  guilty  of  libel  and  each  had  to  pay  a  fine  of 
£160  and  damages  amounting  to  twice  that  sum. 
It  is  a  question  whether  Mme.  de  Kaulla  was  ever 
really  M.  de  Cissey's  mistress,  though  she  tried  to 
ingratiate  herself  with  him.     For  the  rest,  it  may  be 
admitted  that  she  was  a  suspicious  character,  and  it 
is  known  that  Bismarck  had  several  women  in  his 
employ.     Not,  however,  German  ones,  for  he  pro- 
nounced them  to  be  much  too  stupid  to  act  as  secret 
agents,  on  which  account  he  gave  the  preference  to 
Russians,  Austrians  and  Italians. 

Another  prominent  legal  case  of  1880  was  that 


102  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

of  the  old  Revolutionary  and  Communard,  Felix  Pyat, 
who  for  writing  some  articles  in  praise  of  regicide 
was  sentenced  to  two  years'  imprisonment.  There 
was  also  the  affair  of  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  gang, 
which  practised  both  highway  robbery  and  burglary 
in  the  western  suburbs  of  Paris.  More  than  fifty 
desperadoes,  most  of  whom  had  been  previously 
convicted,  were  arrested  by  the  police  in  connection 
with  these  matters  and  sentenced  to  terms  of  im- 
prisonment and  hard  labour.  As  usual,  the  leaders 
were  known  by  picturesque  nicknames,  such  as 
would  have  appealed  to  Eugene  Sue.  One  was 
called  the  Vampire,  another  Risk-Everything,  and 
another  the  Diable-a-quatre. 

The  aristocratic  society  of  Paris  was,  however, 
more  interested  about  this  time  in  the  affair  of  the 
fashionable  and  extremely  eloquent  preacher,  Father 
Didon,  who  had  delivered  at  the  Church  of  La 
Trinite  a  course  of  sermons  on  marriage  and  divorce, 
religion  and  science.  Didon's  opinions  were  held 
by  his  superiors  to  be  heterodox,  and  after  being 
summoned  to  Rome  he  received  orders  from  the 
Vatican  to  go  into  exile  in  a  little  Corsican  monastery. 
Didon  was  a  liberal-minded  man,  but  preferred  to 
make  his  peace  with  the  Church  rather  than  to  act 
as  Father  Hyacinthe  did  under  somewhat  similar 
circumstances. 

At  the  time  of  the  Exhibition  of  1878,  apart 
from  an  official  fete  on  June  30,  there  had  been 
great  demonstrations  on  the  14th  of  July,  the 
anniversary  of  the  taking  of  the  Bastille.  In  1880 
the  Government  came  to  the  conclusion  that  an 
annual  national  celebration  was  advisable,  and  it 
is  since  then  that  the  Quatorze  Juillet  has  been  an 
official  as  well  as  a  popular  fete  in  France. 

The  ensuing  winter  was  again  remarkably  severe. 
February  brought  with  it  a  great  demonstration  in 
honour  of  the  eightieth  birthday  of  Victor  Hugo, 
who  ranked  as  the  Grand  Old  Man  of  the  Republic. 


IN  THE   EIGHTIES  103 

Huge  processions  marched  to  his  house  (in  the  avenue 
which  now  bears  his  name),  and  the  proceedings 
assumed  the  character  of  a  great  popular  festival. 
Moderate  Republicanism  was  now  prevalent  in 
Paris,  at  whose  municipal  elections  both  the  Reac- 
tionary and  the  Revolutionary  parties  were  severely 
defeated.  Very  scanty,  moreover,  was  the  attend- 
ance at  a  Mass  celebrated  at  Saint  Augustin  on  the 
anniversary  of  the  death  of  Napoleon  III.  The 
young  Prince  Imperial  had  been  killed  in  Zululand  in 
'79,  and  the  heirs  of  the  Empire,  Prince  Napoleon- 
Jerome  and  his  son  Prince  Victor-Napoleon,  were 
at  loggerheads,  in  such  wise  that  the  Bonapartists 
had  sunk  into  a  very  despondent  mood. 

Gambetta  was  at  this  time  endeavouring  to 
secure  the  adoption  of  a  list-voting  scheme  which, 
he  asserted,  would  consolidate  the  Republic,  but 
many  people  were  distrustful  of  his  ambition,  and 
the  Senate  rejected  the  project  by  a  considerable 
majority.  Jules  Ferry,  who  was  now  Prime  Minister, 
proved  more  fortunate  with  several  reforms  which  he 
proposed — such  as  gratuitous  elementary  education, 
the  extension  of  the  right  of  public  meeting,  and  the 
freedom  of  the  Press.  At  the  same  time  Ferry 
engineered  the  Tunisian  Expedition  which  resulted 
in  making  Tunis  a  French  protectorate.  He  was 
abused  by  some  politicians  for  embarking  on  this 
venture,  on  the  ground  that  France  ought  to  have 
husbanded  all  her  military  resources  in  order  to 
be  able  to  cope  with  Germany.  The  aifair  certainly 
alienated  Italy  and  threw  her  into  the  arms  of 
Bismarck,  the  Triple  Alliance  being  the  result.  More- 
over, it  ended  in  the  downfall  of  Ferry's  administra- 
tion, and  the  advent  of  Gambetta  to  office  (November, 
1881). 

One  of  the  most  interesting  events  in  Paris  that 
year  was  the  holding  of  an  Electrical  Exhibition  and 
an  international  Congress  of  Electricians.  At  the 
same  time  the  first  electrical  tramwav  service  was 


104  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

inaugurated,  Berlin  in  this  respect  following  the 
Parisian  example  during  the  ensuing  year.  The 
Congress  and  Exhibition  proved  important  factors 
in  advancing  electrical  science.  At  the  latter,  how- 
ever, several  unfortunate  accidents  occurred,  a 
visitor  on  one  occasion  being  killed  by  his  imprudence. 
In  his  inquisitiveness  he  drew  too  near  to  some 
exhibit  and  his  watch-chain  becoming  red-hot  set 
fire  to  his  clothes. 

Gambetta's  so-called  Great  Ministry  was  only 
an  affair  of  seventy-three  days'  duration.  It  fell 
over  a  project  for  the  revision  of  the  Constitution 
which  would  have  carried  with  it  the  adoption  of 
the  great  man's  pet  scheme  of  list-voting.  This 
meant  that  instead  of  an  elector  being  limited  to 
the  choice  of  one  or  two  deputies  for  the  particular 
arrondissement  (or  section  of  the  department)  in 
which  he  lived,  he  would  have  participated  in  the 
election  of  all  the  deputies  of  that  department,  thus 
having  four,  five,  six  or  even  more  votes,  according 
to  the  number  of  deputies  which  that  particular 
department  was  entitled  to  elect  by  reason  of  its 
pdpulation.  Gambetta  objected  to  arrondissement 
or  sectional  voting,  on  the  ground  that  it  favoured 
parish  pump  considerations  to  the  detriment  of 
regional  and  material  interests.  It  so  happened, 
however,  that  general  elections  on  the  arrondisse- 
ment system  had  taken  place  in  1881,  and  from  the 
Republican  standpoint  had  demonstrated  the  fallacy 
of  Gambetta's  views,  for  far  from  the  Monarchical 
parties  profiting  by  the  system  on  this  occasion, 
they  only  secured  the  return  of  90  candidates,  whereas 
467  Republicans  of  various  shades  were  elected. 
Nevertheless,  after  Gambetta's  death,  a  trial  of 
list-voting  was  made,  the  system  remaining  in  force 
from  1885  to  1889,  when  it  was  abolished,  as  it  was 
found  to  have  favoured  the  ambitious  dictatorial 
designs  of  General  Boulanger.  Since  then  the 
original  plan  of  voting  only  for  the  one  or  two 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  105 

deputies  of   one's  arrondissement  has  remained  in 
force.* 

At  the  time  when  Gambetta's  administration 
fell  (January,  1882)  Paris  was  in  the  throes  of 
a  financial  crash.  A  bank  known  as  the  Union 
Generale  suspended  payment.  It  had  been  estab- 
lished in  1876  with  the  object  of  furthering  the 
interests  of  "all  good  Catholics,"  and  had  after- 
wards received  the  blessing  of  Pope  Leo  XIII.  Well- 
known  members  of  the  French  aristocracy,  the  Duke 
Decazes,  the  Marquis  de  Biencourt  and  the  Marquis 
de  Ploeuc,  were  at  first  the  figureheads  of  this  ven- 
ture, whose  original  capital  of  £160,000  was  at  last 
raised  to  a  million  sterling.  M.  de  Ploeuc  and  others 
having  withdrawn  from  the  directorate,  the  control 
of  the  concern  passed  to  a  couple  of  schemers  named 
Bontoux  and  Feder,  who  by  various  devices  forced 
up  the  Bourse  quotations  for  the  bank's  shares  from 
£20  to  £100  and  over.  Money  poured  in  from  zealous 
Catholics  all  over  France.  Pope  Leo  even  con- 
fided £120,000  to  Bontoux  for  investment.  Humble 
as  well  as  aristocratic  folk  became  only  too  eager  to 
secure  an  interest  in  a  bank  whose  shares  had  quin- 
tupled in  value.  Meanwhile,  however,  Bontoux  was 
speculating  wildly  with  the  large  sums  which  reached 
him.  He  had  a  finger  in  a  dozen  or  twenty  more  or 
less  dubious  enterprises  in  Brazil,  Roumania,  Italy 
and  Austria-Hungary.  In  November,  '81,  the  Union 
Generale's  capital  was  finally  increased  to  six  millions 
sterling,  and  after  additional  shares  had  been  issued 
at  premiums  of  £14  apiece,  the  Bourse  quotations, 
forced  up  by  fraudulent  means,  stood  at  £120  for  a 
£20  share.  All  at  once,  however,  just  as  Bontoux 
was  trying  to  launch  a  loan  for  Serbia,  where  Milan 
Obrenovitch  was  reigning,  there  came  a  complete 
and  overwhelming  collapse.  A  very  shrewd  French 

*  Paris,  or  rather  the  department  of  the  Seine,  elects  nowadays  by 
reason  of  its  population  as  many  as  54  deputies,  some  of  the  23  arrondisse- 
ments  returning  three  representatives. 


106  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

financier,  Lebaudy,  the  great  sugar  refiner,  had  been 
fighting  the  Union  at  the  Bourse  for  some  time 
past,  fully  realizing  that  its  alleged  prosperity  was 
fictitious.  The  bank's  failure  completely  ruined 
several  hundreds  of  people,  including  numerous 
aristocratic  families,  and  swept  away  at  least  the 
savings  of  thousands  of  others.  The  trial  of  Bon- 
toux  and  Feder  resulted  in  sentences  of  five  years' 
imprisonment.  Some  months  later  the  Austrian 
Ambassador  in  France,  Count  Wimpffen,  shot  himself 
dead  in  a  kiosk  on  the  outer  boulevards,  and  although 
there  were  attempts  to  hush  up  the  affair,  it  transpired 
that  his  mind  had  been  unhinged  by  his  losses  and 
his  share  of  responsibility  in  regard  to  some  of  Bon- 
toux's  schemes  in  different  parts  of  Austria.  In 
Paris  the  average  man  in  the  street  generally  but 
wrongly  surmised  that  the  Union  had  been  crushed 
by  the  "  rascally  Jews."  But  Lebaudy,  who  did 
most  to  overthrow  it,  was  a  Protestant.  He  added 
largely  to  his  own  fortune  by  the  success  of  his 
campaign,  but  in  later  years  a  considerable  part  of 
his  wealth  was  squandered  by  an  imbecile  son, 
who  wandered  about  the  world  calling  himself 
Emperor  of  the  Sahara. 

At  the  period  which  I  have  now  reached  I  had 
become  a  married  man,  and  my  home,  for  some 
years  previously  in  Paris  itself,  had  again  been  trans- 
ferred to  the  suburbs,  this  time  those  on  the  western 
side.  This  had  followed  the  birth  of  a  first  child. 
The  Parisian  system  of  living  in  a  flat,  so  extensively 
imitated  nowadays  by  Londoners,  has  many  dis- 
advantages. It  is  distinctly  deleterious  to  the 
health  of  children,  it  necessitates  that  they  shall 
be  reared  on  more  or  less  artificial  lines,  and  further 
it  is  an  actual  check  to  the  birth-rate,  for  not  only 
do  people  realize  the  difficulty  of  bringing  up  offspring 
within  the  narrow  compass  of  a  small  flat,  but  land- 
lords object — often  most  strenuously — to  the  pre- 
sence of  children  on  their  premises,  which  they  may 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  107 

dirty  and  damage,  besides  disturbing  other  tenants 
who,  having  no  children  of  their  own,  resent  the 
boisterous  play  and  the  occasional  whimperings  of 
the  children  of  other  people. 

Thus  soon  after  the  birth  of  my  eldest  daughter 
I  removed  to  Boulogne-sur-Seine,  which  gives  its 
name  to  the  famous  Bois  where  one  finds  the  fashion- 
able drives  and  the  chief  racecourses  patronized  by 
the  Parisians.  The  house  I  secured  was  small  and 
unpretentious,  but  it  sufficed  amply  for  a  young 
married  couple  blessed  with  just  one  baby.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  had  never  been  properly  finished, 
for  the  owner,  after  intending  to  build  a  house  two 
or  three  storeys  high,  had  met  with  some  domestic 
misfortunes  which  caused  him  to  proceed  no  further 
with  his  work  beyond  roofing  in  the  ground  floor 
which  had  already  been  erected.  Thus  my  dwelling 
was  like  a  bungalow,  but  a  bungalow  built  of  solid 
stone  masonry,  and  with  fine  concreted  cellarage 
underneath.  What  appealed  to  one  most  of  all  was 
the  ground  attached  to  the  little  house — part 
flower-garden,  part  kitchen-garden,  and  part  orchard. 
In  the  latter  one  found  some  sixty  specimens 
of  virtually  all  the  usual  fruit  trees — apple,  pear, 
plum,  peach,  apricot,  nectarine,  cherry,  and  medlar, 
together  with  gooseberry  and  currant  bushes,  grape 
vines  and  strawberry  beds.  In  the  kitchen-garden 
1  grew  my  own  asparagus,  celery  and  globe  arti- 
chokes, as  well  as  customary  vegetables.  Elsewhere 
I  had  no  lack  of  flowers,  and  all  this  supplied  my 
wife  and  myself  with  ample  occupation  for  our 
spare  time.  She,  as  a  farmer's  daughter,  knew 
more  than  I  did  in  regard  to  the  raising  of  produce, 
but  before  long,  when  another  little  stranger's 
advent  approached,  I  had  to  take  entire  charge  of 
the  gardening  operations.  At  a  later  period  in  my 
career,  when  I  had  settled  down  in  England  and 
purchased  a  few  plots  of  land,  I  provided  my  family, 
virtually  unaided,  with  all  the  vegetables  they 


108  PARIS   AND  HER  PEOPLE 

required  over  a  term  of  a  dozen  years.  That  was 
the  time  when  I  was  translating  a  number  of  Zola's 
novels.  I  allotted  so  many  hours  a  day  to  pen  work, 
and  most  of  my  remaining  time  was  given  up  to 
relaxation  in  the  shape  of  digging,  planting,  hoeing, 
and  so  forth. 

When  I  removed  from  central  Paris  to  Boulogne- 
sur-Seine  my  newspaper  work  had  become  less 
considerable  and  urgent  than  previously.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  I  had  undertaken  a  number  of  duties 
for  the  publishing  business  of  Vizetelly  &  Co.  which 
my  father  and  brothers  had  started  in  London.  I 
constantly  had  to  negotiate  one  or  another  matter 
with  a  French  author  or  publishing  house.  I  was 
called  upon  to  watch  the  Paris  book- trade  and  to 
report  on  the  more  successful  works  of  fiction  which 
came  from  the  press.  Further,  I  began  trans- 
lating a  number  of  novels  which  my  father  decided 
to  issue  in  English  guise.  Thus,  some  of  my  time 
was  spent  in  Paris  and  the  remainder  at  home,  where 
word-spinning  alternated  with  the  raising  of  garden 
crops. 

It  was  a  very  pleasant  time  of  my  life.  I  was  by 
no  means  absolutely  buried  away  at  Boulogne.  I 
saw  old  friends  whenever  I  went  into  Paris,  and  when 
I  remained  at  home  I  could  if  necessary  fall  back 
on  the  companionship  of  some  agreeable  neighbours, 
including  an  architect,  a  painter,  and  the  Librarian 
of  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior.  Of  the  painter  I 
may  give  a  short  account.  His  name  was  Ernest 
Pichio,  and,  as  this  indicates,  he  was  of  Italian 
extraction.  He  had  been  originally  a  designer  and 
worker  in  jewellery,  but  had  drifted  into  painting 
for  which  he  had  a  natural  gift.  His  real  politics 
were  very  advanced  Republicanism,  and  under  the 
Empire  he  had  created  a  great  sensation  by  sending 
one  year  for  exhibition  at  the  Salon  a  picture  repre- 
senting the  death  of  Deputy  Baudin  on  a  barricade 
at  the  time  of  the  Coup  d'Etat.  The  authorities 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  109 

promptly  banned  this  picture,  and  under  the 
Republic  Pichio  was  equally  unlucky  with  a  painting 
which  represented  the  shooting  of  a  number  of 
Communalists  at  Pere  Lachaise  cemetery.  It  being 
necessary  to  live,  and  nothing  beyond  notoriety 
accruing  from  such  works  of  art  as  I  have  mentioned, 
Pichio  took  to  painting  Blessed  Virgins  for  provincial 
churches  and  chapels,  and  as  one  clerical  patron 
recommended  him  to  another,  he  was  able  to  provide 
for  the  more  pressing  needs  of  his  family.  After 
the  death  of  Beaconsfield  in  1881,  he  made  a  design 
in  monochrome  in  which  the  head  and  shoulders 
of  the  deceased  statesman  appeared  in  a  kind  of 
framework,  combining  oak  and  laurel  leaves  with 
primroses,  as  well  as  the  two  mottoes :  "  Imperium  et 
Libertas,"  and  "Peace  with  Honour."  The  design 
was  reproduced  in  a  form  of  photogravure,  and  I 
helped  Pichio  to  place  copies  of  it  on  the  London 
market,  in  the  hope  that  it  might  appeal  to  members 
of  the  Primrose  League  and  the  Conservative  Asso- 
ciations. I  also  had  some  correspondence  on  the 
subject  with  Lord  Salisbury,  who  expressed  his 
approval  of  Pichio's  work. 

One  of  the  books  which  I  translated  for  my 
father  whilst  I  was  living  at  Boulogne  was  George 
Ohnet's  novel,  '  The  Ironmaster.'  After  Ohnet's 
death — which  occurred  during  1918 — I  read  in 
various  English  journals  some  erroneous  state- 
ments respecting  the  work  which  made  him  so  ex- 
tremely popular  if  not  exactly  famous.  As  a  novel 
'  Le  Maltre  de  Forges  '  was  published  in  1882,  and  as 
a  play  it  was  produced  in  1883.  This  has  led  to  the 
inference  that  the  play  was  based  on  the  novel, 
whereas  the  facts  were  absolutely  the  reverse. 
Ohnet  began  by  writing  the  play,  which  he  offered 
to  several  Parisian  managers.  Not  one  of  them 
would  take  it,  however,  so  he  ended  by  putting  it 
away  in  a  drawer  until  a  friend,  who  had  read  it, 
suggested  to  him  that  the  theme  would  supply  a 


110  PARIS   AND  HER  PEOPLE 

good  subject  for  a  roman-feuilleton.     Ohnet  adopted 
that  view  and  turned  his  play  into  a  novel,  which 
secured   instant  success,  first  as   a  serial  and  later 
as  a  volume.     I  called  my  father's  attention  to  the 
story,  but  Ohnet  was  then  quite  unknown  in  England, 
and  Vizetelly  &  Co.  therefore  negatived  my  repeated 
suggestions.       But  the  success  of    the  work  as  a 
novel  induced  the  theatrical  world  to  modify  its 
views  respecting  its  chances  as  a  play,  and,  briefly, 
Ohnet  merely  had  to  send  his  original  MS.  to  the 
Gymnase  to  secure  immediate  acceptance,  followed 
by  early  performance.     In  a  similar  way,  my  father 
changed  his  mind  on  hearing  of  the  play's  success, 
and  I  was  suddenly  commissioned  to  translate  the 
story  as  speedily  as  possible.     I  was  able  to  do  so 
in  about  a  fortnight.     Unfortunately  we  could  not 
secure  exclusive  rights  in  the  work.     According  to 
the  provisions  of  the  Copyright  Act  which  was  then 
in  force,  exclusive  rights  in  a  translation  could  only 
be  obtained  when  it  was  produced  within  twelve 
months    of    the    publication    of    the    original.     In 
the  case  of   '  The  Ironmaster '   the  twelve  months 
(dating  from  the  serial  issue)  had  expired.     Thus,  in 
addition  to  my  authorized  translation,  other  versions 
of   the   novel   appeared  in   England,   including   an 
adaptation   by    Robert    Buchanan,    who   gave    his 
work  the  title  of  '  Lady  Clare.'     Nevertheless  Vize- 
telly &  Co.  sold  some  80,000  copies  of  my  text  before 
transferring    it   to    Messrs.    Warne    &    Co.,    which 
happened    when    my    father's    business    went    into 
liquidation.     Undoubtedly  the    sales    were    largely 
helped  by  the  dramatic  version  of  the  story  which 
was  successfully  produced  in  London.     Other  works 
by  Ohnet  followed  '  The  Ironmaster,'  and  authorized 
English  versions  of  several  of  them  were  published  at 
my  instigation  by  Vizetelly  &  Co.     '  The  Ironmaster  ' 
was,  however,  the  only  one  which  I  actually  translated. 
Perhaps  I  may  be  allowed  to  blow  my  own  trumpet 
for  a  moment  by  adding  that  at  the  liquidation  of 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  111 

my  father's  firm  an  examination  of  the  accounts 
showed  that  all  the  works  which  I  had  recommended 
for  publication  had  invariably  paid  their  expenses, 
and  that  on  most  of  them  good  profits  had  been 
realized.  Not  a  penny  had  been  lost  on  any  one. 
Doubtless  a  number  of  those  books  were  not  litera- 
ture, but  they  were  at  all  events  "  selling  lines." 
Literature  pure  and  simple  sometimes  spells  ruin  to 
publishers  as  well  as  to  authors  themselves. 


VI 

THE  EIGHTIES — Continued 

The  Stage — Operas  and  Operas-Comiques — Herv6 — Subventioned  Theatres 
— Louis -Philippe  and  Rossini — The  Carvalhos — The  Opera-Comique 
Fire — The  Comedie  and  its  Company  in  1880- — Sophie  Croizette — 
Sarah  Bernhardt — Mile.  Bartet — Got,  the  Coquelins  and  others — 
The  Odeon — Dumas  fils  and  Victorien  Sardou — The  "  Monsieur  de 
rOrchestre  " — Ludovic  Halevy  on  the  "  runs  "  of  great  Masterpieces — 
Gratuitous  Performances — The  Theatre  Libre  and  Andre  Antoine — 
Various  Plays  and  Musical  Pieces. 

THE  efforts  of  the  French  composers  of  various 
schools  were  fairly  numerous  during  the  decade  of 
the  Eighties.  I  remember  several.  The  year  1880 
brought  us  the  '  Jean  de  Mvelle '  of  Leo  Delibes, 
the  4  Mascotte '  of  Audran,  the  c  Mousquetaires  au 
Couvent '  of  Louis  Varney.  In  the  following  year 
we  first  heard  Offenbach's  posthumous  master- 
piece, the  '  Contes  d'Hoffmann,'  and  Massenet's 
4  Herodiade.'  In  1882  came  Ambroise  Thomas's 
'  Fran9oise  de  Rimini,'  and  Charles  Lecocq's  *  Le 
Cceur  et  la  Main,'  followed,  during  the  ensuing  twelve- 
month, by  Saint-Saens'  'Henri  VIII' — with  La 
Krauss  as  Katherine  of  Aragon — and  Delibes' 
'  Lakme,'  a  score  full  of  charm  and  colour.  In  that 
same  year  Herve  supplied  some  sprightly  music  for 
Meilhac  and  Millaud's  highly-successful  comedie- 
vaudeville,  '  Mam'zelle  Nitouche.'  I  ought  to  have 
mentioned  Herve  sooner.  Born  at  Houdain  in  the 
Pas-de-Calais,  he  was  really  afflicted  with  the  name 
of  Florimond  Ronge,  the  appearance  of  which  on  a 
play  bill  might  have  exposed  him  at  times  to  con- 
siderable ridicule.  For  instance,  had  one  of  his 

112 


IN  THE    EIGHTIES  113 

operettas  miscarried,  the  boulevardiers  would  have 
said  that  he  was  ronge  par  le  chagrin  or  par  le  depit  or 
par  le  remords  ;  and,  as  one  instinctively  associates 
the  verb  ronger  with  rats,  even  more  unpleasant  things 
than  the  above  might  sometimes  have  been  in- 
sinuated. He  therefore  wisely  elected  to  call  himself 
Herve,  which  is  simply  the  equivalent  of  our  English 
Harvey.  His  best-known  operas-bouffes,  '  L'CEil 
creve,'  '  Chilperic,'  and  '  Le  petit  Faust,'  with  their 
highly  fantastic  and  amusing  "  books,"  rivalled 
Offenbach's  productions  in  popularity. 

Massenet  gave  us  '  Manon,'  one  of  his  very  best 
works,  in  1884,  when  also  Planquette's  '  Rip  '  proved 
no  unworthy  successor  to  the  '  Cloches  de  Corneville.' 
Reyer's  '  Sigurd,'  produced  in  the  following  year, 
was  full  of  power.  In  1886  Paladilhe's  4  Patrie,' 
based  on  Sardou's  drama  of  the  same  name,*  proved 
to  be  the  principal  work  of  the  composer  of  the  over- 
familiar  *  Mandolinata.'  Two  years  later  we  heard 
Edouard  Lalo's  '  Roi  d'Ys,'  which  was  dramatic  and 
poetical,  as  befitted  its  subject — the  legend  of  a 
submerged  city  on  the  wild  Breton  coast.  To  the 
same  year  belonged  Benjamin  Godard's  opera 
'  Jocelyn,'  inspired  by  Lamartine's  fine  poem  of  the 
same  name.  Capoul,  the  singer,  helped  to  prepare 
Godard's  book. 

In  those  days,  as  now,  the  State  accorded  sub- 
ventions or  grants  in  aid  to  four  of  the  Paris  theatres 
— that  is,  the  Grand  Opera,  the  Opera-Comique,  the 
Comedie  Frangaise  (otherwise  Theatre  Fran9ais)  and 
the  Odeon.  In  addition,  the  Parisian  municipality 
made  a  grant  to  the  Theatre  Lyrique  (now  Theatre 
Sarah  Bernhardt),  the  site  and  building  (the  latter 
all  but  destroyed  during  the  Commune)  being 
municipal  property.  The  State  subventions  dated, 
I  believe,  from  the  time  of  Napoleon  I.  The  amounts 
have  frequently  varied  under  the  changing  regimes  of 
France ;  and  the  duties  and  restrictions  imposed 

*  First  performed  in  1869. 


114  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

in  return  for  these  grants  have  not  always  been  to 
the  advantage  of  art.  Under  the  Emperors  and 
Kings  the  theatres  in  question  depended  for  their 
allowances  on  the  Civil  List,  and  the  sovereign 
generally  had  a  hand  in  appointing  their  directors, 
which  was  done  through  the  Ministry  of  the  House- 
hold, of  which,  until  the  last  days  of  Napoleon  III, 
the  department  of  Fine  Arts  was  only  a  branch. 
During  the  greater  part  of  that  sovereign's  reign, 
the  Minister  of  the  Household  was  Marshal  Vaillant, 
the  superintendent  of  Fine  Arts  under  him  being  the 
Count  de  Nieuwerkerke,  morganatic  husband  of  the 
Princess  Mathilde.  On  the  advent  of  Emile  Ollivier's 
ministry,  however,  a  Ministry  of  Fine  Arts  was  at 
last  instituted,  and  Maurice  Richard  was  placed  at 
the  head  of  it. 

When  Louis-Philippe  was  called  to  the  throne 
in  1830,  he  decided  to  effect  some  economies  in  the 
matter  of  the  subventioned  theatres,  the  more  so  as 
his  mind  was  fixed  on  the  creation  of  the  great 
pictorial  museum  of  Versailles,  which  he  dedicated 
"  A  toutes  les  Gloires  de  la  France,"  and  on  which, 
in  the  course  of  years,  it  became  necessary  for  him 
to  spend  several  millions  of  money.  Now  at  this 
time  Rossini  was  at  the  height  of  his  reputation,  and 
had  a  contract  with  the  Opera  directorate,  by  the 
terms  of  which  he  was  to  supply  that  theatre  with 
five  works  in  the  course  of  ten  years.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  was  to  receive  an  annuity  of  £240,  'plus  a 
premium  of  £600  for  each  opera  which  he  delivered. 
In  the  opinion  of  the  Eoi  citoyen  such  a  contract 
represented  too  much  money,  and  he  resolved  to 
stop  Rossini's  annuity,  imagining  that  the  Revolu- 
tion by  which  Charles  X  had  been  dethroned  justified 
him  in  doing  so.  But  the  composer  took  legal 
proceedings  to  enforce  his  rights  and  gained  the  day, 
in  such  wise  that  the  directorate  of  the  Opera  had  to 
continue  paying  him  £240  a  year,  whilst  on  his  side 
he  never  again  supplied  it  with  any  work  whatever. 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  115 

In  that  last  connection  Rossini  is  said  to  have  been 
largely  influenced  by  jealousy  of  Meyerbeer. 

Under  the  present  Republic  the  Paris  Opera  has 
been  in  financial  difficulties  more  than  once.  Its 
upkeep  is  naturally  expensive,  as  is  also  the  staging 
of  any  new  work.  On  the  other  hand,  vast  as 
Garnier's  edifice  may  be,  the  auditorium  accommo- 
dates only  2100  spectators  against  the  3000  of  La 
Scala,  the  2500  of  Covent  Garden,  and  the  2400  of  the 
Vienna  Opera-house.  Limits,  moreover,  are  im- 
posed on  the  charges  for  admission ;  and  leading 
vocalists  and  premieres  danseuses  nowadays  exact 
extremely  high  salaries.  The  record  of  Halanzier, 
the  first  director  under  the  present  Republican 
regime,  was  for  several  years  a  fairly  creditable  one. 
During  a  considerable  period  Mme.  Krauss  was 
his  prima  donna.  Fides-Devries  also  belonged  to 
the  company,  as  did  Faure,  the  excellent  baritone, 
who,  after  retiring  from  the  stage,  survived  until 
the  year  when  the  Great  War  began.  Merante  was 
the  ballet  master,  and  at  the  outset  of  Halanzier's 
management  his  stage-manager  was  Leon  Carvalho, 
who  left  him,  however,  to  assume  the  directorate  of 
the  Opera  Comique. 

A  native  of  Mauritius,  Carvalho  (whose  real  name 
was  Carvaille)  had  studied  at  the  Conservatoire,  but 
proved  an  indifferent  vocalist.  He  met  there, 
however,  among  the  pupils  of  the  class  under  Duprez, 
that  gifted  artiste  Caroline  Miolan,  a  Marseillaise, 
who  soon  afterwards  began  to  achieve  fame  at  the 
Opera  Comique,  her  first  successes  there  being  in 
'  Giralda  '  and  '  Les  Noces  de  Jeannette.'  Carvalho 
married  Mile.  Miolan,  and  between  them  they  took 
the  Theatre  Lyrique,  where  artistically  their  regime 
proved  for  some  years  brilliantly  successful,  though 
in  financial  respects  it  became  quite  the  reverse. 
Personally  Mme.  Miolan-Carvalho,  as  she  was  gener- 
ally called,  sped  on  from  triumph  to  triumph.  She 
shone  in  the  chief  parts  of  '  La  Fanchonette '  and 


116  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

'  La  Reine  Topaze.'  She  excelled  as  Cherubin  in 
'  Les  Noces  de  Figaro,'  as  Pamina  in  '  La  Flute 
Enchant  ee,'  and  as  Zerlina  in  '  Don  Juan  ' ;  but  the 
greatest  of  all  her  achievements  was  the  creation  of 
Marguerite  in  Gounod's  '  Faust.'  Later,  still  at  the 
Theatre  Lyrique  and  in  the  Sixties,  she  created  the 
parts  of  Mireille  and  Juliette,  in  the  same  composer's 
works.  For  a  while  she  flashed  on  London  in 
Italian  opera,  but  in  '68  or  '69,  after  Pasdeloup  had 
succeeded  her  husband  at  the  Lyrique,  she  was 
engaged  at  the  old  Paris  Opera-house  in  the  Rue 
Le  Peletier,*  where  she  once  again  triumphed — this 
time  as  Ophelia  in  Ambroise  Thomas's  '  Hamlet.' 

It  was  in  1872  that  her  husband  became  director 
of  the  Opera  Comique,  where,  partly  owing  to  the 
War  and  the  Commune,  Camille  du  Locle's  manage- 
ment had  ended  disastrously.  Carvalho,  however, 
was  by  no  means  the  man  to  make  the  enterprise 
financially  successful.  Of  course,  it  was  not  expected 
of  the  subventioned  theatres  that  they  would 
develop  into  great  money-making  machines.  They 
existed  primarily  for  artistic  and  literary  purposes  ; 
nevertheless  it  was  highly  undesirable  that  one  or 
the  other  should  be  constantly  bowed  down  by 
financial  deficits.  Now,  Carvalho  had  the  artistic 
temperament  in  abundance,  but  no  commercial 
talent  at  all,  in  such  wise  that  he  was  often  at  a  loss 
how  to  make  both  ends  meet.  Yet  his  "  bills " 
were  constantly  most  attractive  ones,  and  his  com- 
pany, in  addition  to  his  wife,  included  such  vocalists 
as  Galli-Marie,  Marie  Cabel,  Achard  and  Capoul. 
It  was  in  1885  that  Mme.  Miolan- Carvalho  finally 
retired  from  the  stage  after  a  career  of  six-and- 
thirty  years.  She  continued,  however,  to  assist  her 
husband  in  the  management  until,  two  years  later, 
it  was  overtaken  by  unforeseen  disaster. 

On  the  evening  of  May  25  ('87),  whilst  the  first 

*  See  p.  22,  ante,  and  p.  131,  post. 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  117 

act  of  '  Mignon  '  was  being  performed,  there  occurred 
a  sudden  outbreak  of  fire,  which  resulted  in  the 
virtual  destruction  of  the  building,  and  the  loss,  it 
has  been  estimated,  of  over  130  lives.  The  number 
was  never  completely  ascertained,  however.  Only 
some  80  bodies  were  recovered,  these  being  mostly 
those  of  persons  who  had  been  suffocated  or  mortally 
injured  whilst  endeavouring  to  escape.  Of  many 
others  only  ashes  could  be  found.  There  was  great 
consternation,  and  a  loud  outcry  arose  respecting 
the  arrangements  of  the  Parisian  theatres  in  regard 
to  the  safety  of  spectators.  Through  '  Le  Figaro,' 
to  which  I  then  occasionally  contributed,  I  partici- 
pated in  a  press  campaign  designed  to  bring  about 
various  alterations  and  improvements.  Carvalho 
was  put  upon  his  trial  on  charges  of  culpable  neglect, 
and  the  Correctional  Tribunal  sentenced  him  to  three 
months'  imprisonment  and  a  heavy  fine.  On  appeal, 
however,  he  was  acquitted,  though  he  remained 
liable,  I  think,  for  damages  with  respect  to  the 
persons  who  had  perished  in  the  disaster. 

Under  the  Second  Empire  and  also  during  the 
very  first  years  of  the  present  Republic,  Paris  also 
had  an  Italian  Opera-house,  the  so-called  Salle 
Ventadour  being  appropriated  to  the  purpose. 
I  cannot  find  that  this  house  was  ever  officially 
subventioned,  though  Napoleon  III  occasionally 
granted  it  a  small  subsidy  in  the  days  when  Patti 
and  others  of  her  generation  sang  there.  It  de- 
pended, however,  chiefly  on  its  subscribers,  who 
certainly  included  many  prominent  members  of 
society.  It  was,  indeed,  a  somewhat  exclusive 
house,  where  few  folk  of  the  bourgeoisie  were  to  be 
found,  the  bulk  preferring  to  hear  opera  sung  in 
French,  though,  of  course,  vocalists  are  no  more 
intelligible  in  that  language  than  they  are  in  any 
other.  However,  before  1880  arrived,  the  Italiens 
ceased  to  exist,  the  Salle  Ventadour  being  acquired 
by  a  banking  company. 


118  PARTS   AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Let  me  pass  now  to  that  famous  institution  the 
Com6die  Fran9aise,  such  as  it  was  when  the  decade 
of  the  Eighties  began.  Still  organized  in  accordance 
with  the  famous  decree  which  Napoleon  so  imper- 
turbably  issued  from  Moscow  whilst  that  city  was 
burning  around  him,  it  had  as  its  manager  Emile 
Pen-in,  painter  and  art  critic,  who  had  been  a 
director  of  the  Opera  during  the  Second  Empire. 
There  were  in  1880  twenty  societaire  shares  (in 
accordance  with  the  Emperor's  first  decree)  and 
some  delicate  manipulation  was  required  to  apportion 
them  among  the  four-and-twenty  societaires.  Of 
these  the  senior  lady  was  that  most  amiable  and 
witty  old  dowager,  Madeleine  Brohan,  who  had  been 
elected  in  1852 — a  few  months  before  she  undertook 
to  teach  high-placed  Parisiennes,  ambitious  of  shining 
before  Napoleon  III  at  the  Tuileries,  how  to  wear  their 
court  trains  and  bow  before  the  new  imperial  throne. 

Brohan's  friend,  that  clever  daughter  of  Lorraine, 
Mme.  Arnould-Plessy,  who  had  excelled  at  the 
Comedie  as  a  grande  coquette,  after  failing  as  a  trage- 
dienne, was  still  alive,  but  had  retired  on  a  well- 
earned  pension  during  the  war-year,  1870.  Next, 
therefore,  in  seniority  to  Madeleine  Brohan  came 
Mme.  Favart,  who  during  a  former  period  of  some 
ten  years  duration,  had  been  the  Comedie's  leading 
lady,  but  who,  after  playing  the  parts  of  many 
heroines,  had  been  constrained  by  age  to  take  such 
roles  as  those  of  a  hero  or  heroine's  mother.  Favart 
had  been  a  societaire  since  1854.  Next  on  the  list 
one  found  Mile.  Jouassin,  elected  in  '63,  and  followed 
during  the  ensuing  year  by  Edile  Riquier,  who  had 
been  virtually  imposed  on  the  company  by  a  powerful 
gentleman-protector.  She  had  been  very  good- 
looking,  but  that  by  no  means  compensated  for  her 
lack  of  talent. 

In  1880,  Mile.  Provost-Ponsin  had  been  a 
societaire  for  thirteen,  and  Dinah  Felix,  the  youngest 
of  Rachel's  sisters,  one  for  ten  years.  After  these 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  119 

came  Mile.  Reichenberg  and  Sophie  Croizette,  elected 
the  former  in  '72  and  the  second  during  the  following 
twelvemonth.  Reichenberg  was  for  several  years 
the  company's  principal  ingenue.  An  Alsatian  by 
parentage,  she  played  the  part  of  Suzel  in  '  L'Ami 
Fritz  '  as  to  the  manner  born.  During  the  Eighties 
her  name  became  prominent  in  the  club  and  cafe 
chatter  of  Paris,  for  folk  asserted  that  she  was 
particularly  admired  by  the  sexagenarian  Duke 
d'Aumale,  who  was  a  widower,  and  also  by  the 
notorious  General  Boulanger,  who  was  seeking  a 
divorce  from  his  wife.  But,  unfortunately  for  the 
quidnuncs,  the  wife  whom  he  wished  to  take,  instead 
of  being  Mile.  Reichenberg,  was  Mme.  de  Bonne- 
mains,  with  whom  he  was  hopelessly  entangled. 
As  for  Mile.  Reichenberg  she  married  Baron  de 
Bourgoing. 

Mile.  Reichenberg's  camarade,  Sophie  Croizette, 
showed  herself  almost  an  actress  of  genius.  Time 
was  when  she  ranked  in  public  estimation  above 
Sarah  Bernhardt.  They  played  together  in  Dumas 
fils's  '  L'Etrangere,'  Croizette  personifying  vice,  and 
Sarah  suffering  virtue.  Croizette's  greatest  triumph 
was  probably  that  which  she  achieved  in  Octave 
Feuillet's  play,  '  Le  Sphinx,'  all  Paris  then  hastening 
to  see  her  die  upon  the  stage,  though  the  older  critics 
(who  did  not  foresee  the  gruesome  productions  of  the 
Grand  Guignol)  roundly  denounced  her  for  turning 
the  Comedie  into  a  "  chamber  of  horrors."  I  must 
say  that  Croizette's  death  in  this  play  was  more 
painfully  realistic  than  Sarah  Bernhardt's  in  '  La 
Dame  aux  Camelias.'  Croizette's  parentage  may 
have  had  some  influence  on  her  peculiar  talent,  for 
her  father  was  a  Russian.  She  was  born  in  1856  at 
Petrograd,  her  mother  (the  daughter  of  an  actor  and 
playwright)  being  a  dancer  in  one  of  the  French 
companies  performing  in  that  city.  Sophie's  parents 
intended  her  for  the  teaching  profession,  and  after 
being  carefully  educated  she  secured  all  possible 


120  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

diplomas,  evincing,  moreover,  considerable  talent  in 
instrumental  music.  But  Bressant,  for  years  one 
of  the  great  men  of  the  Comedie  Franyaise,  took 
notice  of  her,  and  after  prevailing  on  her  to  study 
at  the  Conservatoire,  procured  her  an  engagement 
at  the  leading  house.  She  first  made  her  mark 
there  in  1873,  in  a  little  one-act  piece  called 
*  L'Ete  de  la  Saint  Martin,'  written  by  Meilhac 
and  Halevy.  One  of  her  sisters  married  Carolus 
Duran,  the  well-known  painter,*  and  his  life-like 
portrait  of  Sophie,  on  horseback,  ranks  among  his 
best  works. 

Sarah  Bernhardt  was  elected  a  societaire  of  the 
Comedie  in  1875.  She  had  obtained  an  engagement 
there  immediately  on  leaving  the  Conservatoire,  in 
1862,  but  no  parts  being  allotted  to  her  she  trans- 
ferred her  services  to  the  Gymnase,  the  Porte-St.- 
Martin,  and  eventually  the  Odeon,  where,  as  I 
previously  related,  she  made  her  mark  in  Fra^ois 
Coppee's  poetical  little  piece,  cLe  Passant.'  In  1872 
she  returned  (at  first  as  a  pensionnaire)  to  the  Comedie, 
her  connection  with  which  she  severed  in  1880.  The 
legal  proceedings  then  taken  against  her  resulted  in 
an  order  that  she  should  payi  £4000  damages,  which 
represented  about  eighteen  months'  income,  as  in 
1879  her  share  as  a  societaire  amounted  to  £2480. 
In  the  following  year  she  paid  her  first  visit  to 
America,  making  a  decided  hit  at  Booth's  Theatre 
at  New  York,  notably  as  "Adrienne  Lecouvreur." 
I  have  already  alluded  to  some  of  the  jocular 
remarks  provoked  during  Bernhardt's  earlier  years 
by  the  extreme  slimness  of  her  figure.  I  may  add 
here  that  when  Clairin  exhibited  a  portrait  of  her 
with  a  hound  lying  at  her  feet,  Dumas  fils,  after 
inspecting  it,  exclaimed  :  "  That  is  quite  appropriate, 
a  dog  and — a  bone."  About  the  same  time  '  Le 
Figaro '  asserted :  "  An  empty  brougham  drove  up 

*  See  p.  69,  ante.     In  1885  Croizette  married  M.  Jacques  Stern,  a 
Paris  banker.     She  died  in  1901. 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  121 

to  the  Theatre  Frangais  yesterday  afternoon.     Mile. 
Bernhardt  stepped  out  of  it."  * 

Ranking  after  Bernhardt  as  societaires  of  the 
Comedie  at  the  period  with  which  I  am  dealing,  were 
Miles.  Barretta,  Broissat,  Samary  and  Bartet,  elected 
(in  the  order  named)  in  '76,  '77,  '78  and  1880. 
Barrett  a' s  talent  was  full  of  dainty  charm  ;  Broissat, 
who  was  very  good-looking,  possessed  considerable 
ability,  but  for  one  or  another  reason  never  rose 
above  secondary  roles,  whilst  as  for  Jeanne  Samary,  a 
niece  of  Madeleine  Brohan's,  she  was  as  gay  and  as 
piquante  a  soubrette  as  anybody  could  desire.  For 
years  the  presentment  of  her  laughing  face  confronted 
the  Parisians  in  the  windows  of  every  shop  where 
theatrical  photographs  were  sold.  A  face  it  was  as 
bright  as  August  sunshine,  and  if  the  mouth  were 
large,  how  well,  how  frankly,  how  unrestrainedly 
it  laughed,  and  what  fine  teeth  the  laugh  revealed  ! 
Alas  !  all  those  fair  and  charming  women— 

"  Ou  sont-elles,  Vierge  souveraine — 
Mais  ou  sont  les  neiges  d'autan  !  " 

I  have  yet  to  say  something  respecting  Jeanne 
Julia  Regnault,  known  theatrically  as  Mile.  Bartet. 
A  Parisienne  by  birth  and  a  graduate  of  the  Con- 
servatoire, she  became  a  societaire  of  the  Comedie 
Frangaise  when  she  was  twenty-six  years  of  age. 
She  had  attracted  attention  on  her  comparatively 
brief  appearance  in  Daudet's  '  Arlesienne,'  produced 
when  she  was  in  her  eighteenth  year ;  and  later, 

*  Some  readers  may,  perhaps,  think  it  rather  unkind  of  me  to  repeat 
these  old  witticisms  respecting  the  great  actress,  but  I  am  sure  that  she  is 
tropfemme  d*  esprit  and  trap  Parisienne  (which  means  the  same  thing)  to  take 
any  offence.  I  have  been  one  of  her  admirers  ever  since  the  days  of  '  Le 
Passant '  (1869),  and  nobody  could  have  felt  more  sympathy  for  her  in 
the  grievous  misfortune  which  unhappily  befell  her  a  few  years  ago.  Let 
me  add  that  physical  characteristics  often  inspire  a  good  deal  of  banter 
in  Paris.  The  famous  eighteenth-century  dancer,  La  Guimard,  besides 
being  dusky  and  pock-marked,  was  so  extremely  thin  that  people  generally 
nicknamed  her  la  squelette  des  grdces.  Yet  all  Paris  applauded  her  per- 
formances and  for  several  years  she  was  "  protected  "  on  a  scale  of  the 
greatest  magnificence. 


122  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

when  her  studies  were  finished,  her  impersonation  of 
Zicka  in  Sardou's  '  Fedora,'  better  known  to  English 
people  as  '  Diplomacy,'  increased  her  reputation. 
At  the  Theatre  Frangais  she  became  the  young 
heroine  of  modern  comedies,  in  which  respect  she 
soon  shone  as  brilliantly  as  ever  Mile.  Favart  had 
shone  even  in  her  best  years.  On  Bartet's  first 
appearance  as  a  societaire  she  experienced  a  somewhat 
lively  time,  for  she  played  the  leading  feminine  role 
in  Sardou's  '  Daniel  Rochat ' — a  play  which  pro- 
voked considerable  political  feeling  and  led  to 
demonstrations. 

Let  me  now  pass  to  the  chief  actors  of  the  Frangais 
in  1880.  These  were  Got,  elected  in  1850,  a  few 
months  before  his  camarade  Delaunay,  Maubant 
(1852),  Constant  Coquelin  ('64),  Febvre  ('67),  Thiron 
(72),  Mounet-Sully  ('74),  Laroche  ('75),  Barre  ('76), 
Worms  and  Ernest  Coquelin  (both  in  '78).  Born  in 
Paris  in  1822,  and  educated  by  charity,  Frangois 
Jules  Got  had  served  as  a  soldier  and  had  also 
practised  journalism  before  taking  to  the  stage. 
In  the  professional  sense  he  was  a  "  low  comedian," 
though,  like  Coquelin  aine,  he  often  took  parts  of 
quite  a  different  character.  He  excelled,  however, 
in  the  comic  roles  of  the  repertoire  of  his  time,  and 
Francisque  Sarcey  pointed  out  that  in  him  one  found 
incarnate  some  of  the  Comedie's  most  distant 
traditions.  For  instance,  his  interpretation  of  the 
part  of  Mascarille,  that  type  of  the  intriguing,  im- 
pudent, dishonest  man-servant  of  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth-century  comedy,  was  in  accordance  with 
what  he  had  learnt  from  Claude  Monrose,  with  whom 
he  had  acted  in  his  early  years.  Monrose  had  seen 
Dazincourt  in  the  part,  Dazincourt  had  acted  with 
Preville,  Preville  had  been  a  friend  of  Poisson's, 
and  Poisson  supplied  a  direct  link  with  Moliere,  in 
such  wise  that  Moliere's  conception  of  Mascarille 
had  been  transmitted  from  generation  to  generation 
down  to  our  own  times,  Coquelin  aine  in  his  turn 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  123 

deriving  it  from  Got,  whose  junior  he  was  by  nearly 
a  score  of  years,  and  at  the  same  time  imparting  to 
it  an  unsurpassable  presentment  by  reason  of  his 
singularly  appropriate  'physique,. 

Got  was  already  eight-and-fifty  when  the  decade 
of  the  Eighties  began,  but,  unless  his  part  required 
it,  he  gave  few  signs  of  age.  He  retained  a  young 
disposition,  had  always  striven  to  keep  abreast  of 
his  times,  and,  apart  from  the  traditions  of  the 
repertoire,  to  adapt  himself  to  modern  ideas  and 
manners.  He  continued  acting  till  1895,  and  died 
in  the  first  year  of  the  present  century. 

The  brothers  Coquelin,  Constant  and  Ernest, 
survived  until  1909.  They  were  the  sons  of  a  baker 
in  business  at  Boulogne-sur-Mer.  Constant,  gener- 
ally known  as  Coquelin  aine,  possessed  great  versa- 
tility and  could  act  the  part  of  a  modern  French  duke 
quite  as  well  as  he  did  that  of  Moliere's  Mascarille  or, 
in  later  times,  that  of  Rostand's  Cyrano  de  Bergerac. 
For  several  years  he  occupied  a  commanding  position 
at  the  Comeciie,  but  during  the  early  Eighties  he  was 
suddenly  seized  with  political  ambition,  which, 
fortunately  for  the  French  stage,  came  to  nothing, 
owing  no  doubt  to  the  premature  death  of  Gambetta, 
with  whom  he  had  become  intimate.  Folk  some- 
times compared  their  relations  to  those  of  Talma  and 
Napoleon.  I  doubt,  however,  whether  the  Emperor 
would  ever  have  made  Talma  a  senator,  which  was 
what  Coquelin  desired  to  become  under  Gambetta's 
patronage.  Personally,  I  see  no  reason  why  the 
theatrical  profession  should  not  be  represented  in  the 
Legislature.  Sir  George  Alexander  was,  I  believe, 
a  very  efficient  member  of  the  London  County 
Council,  a  precedent  which  may  some  day  encourage 
some  member  of  the  profession  to  offer  himself  for 
so-called  parliamentary  honours.  If  Coquelin  had 
become  a  senator  he  might  well  have  enlivened  many 
a  dreary  debate  at  the  Luxembourg  without  in  any 
degree  detracting  from  the  wisdom  of  the  assembly's 


124  PARIS  AND  HER   PEOPLE 

decisions.     Wisdom  does  not  depend  on  gravity  of 
mien,  nor  is  gaiety  inconsistent  with  common  sense. 

Coquelin  cadet  (Ernest)  was  less  able  and  less 
versatile  than  his  elder  brother,  but  there  was  often 
brilliancy  and  fancy  in  his  impersonations.  Four 
years  younger  than  Constant,  he  followed  him  to  the 
grave  during  the  same  twelvemonth,  after  a  mental 
breakdown  which  quite  overclouded  his  faculties. 
Judging  by  what  I  saw  of  him,  I  believe  that  love 
and  money  worries,  associated  with  the  pace  that 
kills,  were  responsible  for  his  sad  ending. 

Louis  Arsene  Delaunay  who,  from  the  standpoint 
of  seniority,  immediately  followed  Got  as  a  societaire, 
was  a  Parisian,  born  in  1826.  The  beau  ideal  of  a 
jeune  premier,  handsome,  elegant,  graceful,  an  adept 
in  expressing  the  most  tender,  poetic  sentiments, 
he  continued  to  defy  the  "  ravages  of  time  "  until 
he  was  quite  an  old  man.  Quitting  the  Conservatoire 
when  he  was  but  nineteen,  he  obtained  his  first 
engagement  at  the  Comedie  when  he  was  two-and- 
twenty.  Many  were  the  years  during  which  he 
played  lovers'  parts,  ever  fervently  pouring  out  his 
soul  to  youth  and  beauty.  He  fascinated  women, 
inspired  them  with  dreams  of  the  unattainable,  and, 
had  he  not  been  a  man  of  sense,  might  well  have  had 
his  head  turned  by  all  the  passionate  declarations 
which  reached  him.  The  critics  greatly  praised  his 
voice.  The  phrase,  "la  voix  d' argent  de  Delaunay," 
was  at  one  time  as  familiar  as  became  "  la  voix  d'or  " 
of  Sarah  Bernhardt.  This  much  envied  discoverer 
of  the  secret  of  almost  perpetual  youth  was  seventy- 
seven  when  he  died,  after  some  years  of  retirement. 
Next  let  me  mention  the  dignified  Maubant,  who  so 
often  figured  in  kingly  parts  in  the  tragedies  of  the 
classic  repertoire.  Passing  Coquelin  aine  (whom  I 
have  already  mentioned),  I  note  the  name  of 
Frederic  Febvre,  a  self-taught  artiste,  who  had  gained 
his  first  experience  in  the  provinces,  and  had  after- 
wards secured  engagements  at  the  Paris  Vaudeville 


IN   THE   EIGHTIES  125 

and  the  Odeon.  He  did  not  shine  in  the  repertoire, 
but  showed  ability  in  modern  comedies. 

Thiron  was  a  good  low  comedian,  whilst  heroics 
constituted  the  particular  province  of  his  camarade, 
the  impulsive  Mounet-Sully,  as  was,  indeed,  only 
natural,  for  he  was  by  birth  a  Gascon,  a  native  of 
Bergerac  in  the  Dordogne.*  He  was  often  carried 
away  by  his  impersonations,  enduing  them  with  all 
the  enthusiasm,  all  the  fougue  of  his  southern  tem- 
perament. At  times,  in  fact,  he  overdid  his  part ; 
positive  fury  seemed  to  seize  hold  of  him  ;  his  tirades 
of  blank  verse  rang  out  like  trumpet  blasts,  and 
many  critics  would  have  preferred  more  restrained 
artistry.  It  may  at  least  be  said  for  Mounet-Sully, 
however,  that  the  fervour,  the  excess  of  vitality 
which  he  so  often  displayed,  were  part  of  his  very 
nature. 

Laroche,  to  whom  I  next  come,  was  best  as  a 
young  man  in  parts  of  somewhat  secondary  import- 
ance. Barre,  on  the  other  hand,  was  essentially  the 
old  man  of  the  company.  Worms  ought  to  have 
been  a  societaire  many  years  before  he  secured  that 
position.  As  a  matter  of  fact  he  was  elected  to  it 
under  the  Second  Empire,  but,  for  some  reason  or 
other,  the  powers  of  the  time  raised  objections,  with 
the  result  that  Worms  betook  himself  to  Russia, 
where  he  remained  for  quite  ten  years.  He  was  an 
actor  of  real  ability  and  distinguished  himself  in 
some  of  the  revivals  of  Victor  Hugo's  pieces. 

I  have  alluded  to  the  fact  that  the  number  of 
societaires'  shares  was  limited  to  twenty,  and  that 
the  societaires  themselves  being  more  numerous, 
financial  matters  required  some  adjustment.  This 
position  was  not  peculiar  to  the  period  to  which  I 
have  been  referring,  matters  being  similar  at  many 
other  times.  Moreover,  there  have  always  been 
charges  on  the  funds  available  for  division  among  the 

*  His  correct  name  was  Jean  Sully  Mounet ;  Paul  Mounet,  who  still 
survives,  being  his  younger  brother. 


126  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

company.  In  the  first  place,  account  should  be 
taken  of  various  retiring  allowances  to  which  ex- 
societaires  (of  whom  there  are  often  half  a  dozen)  are 
entitled.  When  Bressant  retired  in  the  '70's  he 
received  over  £3000  in  a  lump  sum,  and  was  granted 
an  annuity  of  £400.  Further,  salaries  have  to  be 
paid  to  those  members  of  the  company  who  are  not 
societaires.  They  are  usually  known  as  pensionnaires, 
and  one  may  liken  their  position  to  that  of  associates. 
There  are  also,  occasionally,  trial  engagements  of 
fixed  duration.  It  is  almost  always  necessary  to  be 
received  as  a  pensionnaire  before  being  promoted 
by  election  to  the  societariat.  When  this  occurs  the 
new  societaire  secures,  at  first,  perhaps  a  quarter,  and 
at  times  as  little  as  an  eighth  part  of  a  share.  Later, 
there  may  be  an  increase  to  half  a  share,  but  in  order 
to  secure  a  whole  one  conspicuous  merit  and  great 
services  are  requisite.  I  have  said  that  the  amount 
of  money  received  by  Sarah  Bernhardt  in  1879  was 
£2480.  This  was  more  than  any  other  leading  lady 
obtained.  Both  Brohan  and  Favart  received  £2400, 
whilst  the  sum  paid  to  Croizette  was  £2200.  Among 
the  men  the  highest  emoluments  were  those  of  Got, 
the  doyen,  who  received  £2800.  Coquelin  aine  took 
£40  less,  and  Delaunay  £40  less  than  Coquelin. 
Febvre,  Worms,  Maubant  and  Thiron  were  each  in 
receipt  of  £2400.  The  amount  of  the  Comedie's 
receipts  that  particular  year  is  not  known  to  me, 
but  I  find  it  stated  that  in  1877  these  receipts  ex- 
ceeded £63,000,  being  an  increase  of  nearly  £13,000 
on  the  figures  of  '72,  the  first  complete  year  after 
the  Franco-German  War.* 

In  the  early  Eighties  the  Odeon,  which  had  become 
the  second  "Theatre  Fran9ais "  during  the  reign 
of  Louis  XVIII,  when  it  received  permission  to 
stage  all  the  plays  of  the  old  repertoire,  was  in  a 
fairly  thriving  position.  It  was  at  this  house,  so 
largely  patronized  by  the  students  of  the  Quartier 

*  The  above  figures  may  be  compared  with  those  given  on  p.  24,  ante. 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  127 

Latin,  where  it  displays  its  colonnades  and  their 
bookstalls,  that  such  authors  as  Casimir  Delavigne, 
Ponsard,  Emile  Augier  and  George  Sand  first  made 
their  reputations.     Sardou  was  also  somewhat  in- 
debted to  the  Odeon,  though  it  was  the  sprightly 
talent  of  Virginie  Dejazet — to  whom  he  behaved 
ungratefully — that  first  made  him  favourably  known 
to  the  Parisians.     After  the  Franco- German  War 
the    Odeon's  first    great  success  was  achieved  (in 
1876,   I  think)  with   '  Les  Danicheff,'   a  well-con- 
structed and  interesting  piece  attributed  on  the  bills 
to  an  author  named  "  Newsky,"  this  being  a  collec- 
tive pseudonym  assumed  for  the  occasion  by  Dumas 
fils  and  Prince  Peter  Corvin-Krukowsky.     It  was 
the  Prince  who  first  drafted  the  play  which  Dumas 
afterwards  modified  and  partly  re-wrote.     An  earlier 
dramatic  effort  by  the  same  Russian  boyard,  staged 
at  the  Gymnase,  had  failed  to  secure  favour,  owing 
to  a  great  mistake  made  by  the  princely  author,  who 
on  the  first  night  filled  the  house  with  his  noble 
friends  of  the  Faubourg   Saint   Germain  and  the 
diplomatic  world.     This,  as  Brander  Matthews  points 
out  in  his  little  book  on  the  French  theatres,  showed 
total  ignorance  of  Parisian  customs. 

It  is  necessary  that  a  first-night  audience  should 
be  composed  of  what  is  called  le  tout  Paris,  a  peculiar 
assemblage  of  men  of  real  society,  men  of  letters, 
men  about  town,  bankers  and  artists,  together  with 
women  of  fashion,  both  of  good  and  of  bad  repute. 
Those  are  the  kind  of  folk  who,  combined  with  the 
professional  critics,  have  made  or  marred  the  reputa- 
tions of  dramatic  authors,  actors  and  actresses  from 
at  least  the  time  of  Louis-Philippe  onward.  Brander 
Matthews  rightly  says  that  it  is  a  fatal  mistake  to 
pack  a  house  on  a  "  first  night "  with  family  con- 
nections or  personal  friends.  Doubtless  some  friends 
must  be  admitted,  some  enemies  also,  but  if  the  piece 
is  to  have  a  fair  chance  the  bulk  of  the  audience  must 
be  composed  of  the  recognized  "  first-nighters." 


128  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

The  original  Vaudeville  theatre  stood  on  the 
Place  de  la  Bourse.  It  was  there,  I  think,  that 
during  the  Second  Empire  Theodore  Barriere,  the 
Henry  Becque  of  his  period,  produced  his  most 
mordant  masterpieces — *  Les  Filles  de  Marbre  '  and 
'  Les  Faux  Bonshommes,'  the  latter,  in  particular, 
being  such  a  play  as  Hogarth,  Gavarni  or  Daumier 
might  have  produced,  had  they  written  for  the  stage. 
At  the  same  house,  in  1861  and  1865,  Sardou  secured 
two  of  the  greatest  of  his  earlier  successes,  the  first 
with  '  Nos  Intimes,'  which  was  recognized  as  a 
powerful  and  well- justified  satire  on  the  current 
hypocrisy  of  social  life,  and  the  second  with  '  La 
Famille  Benoiton,'  a  piece  which  some  writers  on 
the  French  drama  have  dismissed  as  mere  caricature. 
I  re-perused  it  only  recently  and  found  that  it  at 
least  made  excellent  reading.  It  is  certainly  not  free 
from  occasional  exaggeration,  but  my  own  memory 
tells  me  that  it  contains  much  truth,  and  that  allowing 
for  the  proverbial  grains  of  salt  it  may  well  be  accepted 
as  portraying  certain  trends  of  life  in  at  least  a  part 
of  Parisian  society  during  the  Empire's  last  years. 

The  old  Vaudeville  facing  the  Bourse  having  been 
demolished,  the  new  one  at  the  corner  of  the  Chaussee 
d'Antin  was  erected,  and  here  Sardou  pursued  the 
course  of  his  successes  with  '  Rabagas,'  '  L'Oncle 
Sam,'  and  *  Fedora,'  otherwise  '  Diplomacy.'  Other 
works  of  his,  '  Fernande,'  '  Ferreol '  and  '  Seraphine,' 
were  produced  at  the  Gymnase  on  the  Boulevard 
Bonne  Nouvelle,  which  was  the  house  usually 
favoured  by  Dumas  fits  when  his  productions  were 
not  such  as  could  secure  acceptance  at  the  Comedie 
Frangaise.  It  was  at  the  Gymnase  that  '  La  Dame 
aux  Camelias '  was  originally  performed.  Some  of 
Theodore  Barriere' s  plays  were  also  produced  there. 
At  the  same  time  the  Gymnase  owed  much  of  its 
renown  to  two  gifted  actresses,  both  of  whom  died 
prematurely,  Rose  Cheri  of  puerperal  fever,  and 
Aimee  Desclee  of  consumption. 


IN  THE   EIGHTIES  129 

In  or  about  1874  '  Le  Figaro  '  secured  as  a  con- 
tributor a  very  lively  and  witty  journalist  named 
Arnold  Mortier.  His  speciality  was  to  write  on 
first-night  performances  and  various  theatrical 
celebrations.  He  did  not  pen  elaborate  critiques, 
though  he  glanced  occasionally  at  the  merits  or 
demerits  of  a  new  piece.  He  dealt  more  particularly 
with  the  staging,  the  costumes  of  the  actors  and 
actresses,  the  composition  of  the  house,  the  reception 
given  to  the  performance,  the  whole  interspersed 
with  anecdotes,  jeux  de  mots,  sidelights  of  one  and 
another  kind  on  the  theatrical  life  of  Paris.  During 
several  years — in  fact,  I  think,  until  his  death— 
Mortier  continued  contributing  these  articles  to 
'  Le  Figaro,'  and  they  were  collected  in  annual 
volumes  entitled  *  Les  Soirees  Parisiennes '  by  '  Le 
Monsieur  de  1'Orchestre,'  this  being  the  pseudonym 
which  Mortier  assumed.  These  volumes  constitute 
valuable  contributions  to  the  history  of  the  French 
stage,  particularly  that  of  its  lighter  side,  and  their 
interest  is  enhanced  by  the  prefaces  written  to 
them  by  distinguished  writers  and  composers. 

For  instance,  the  first  year's  volume  had  a  preface 
by  Offenbach,  the  second  one  by  Theodore  Barriere, 
and  the  third  one  by  Alphonse  Daudet,  who  was 
followed  by  Edouard  Gondinet,  Pailleron,  d'Ennery, 
Zola,  Ludovic  Halevy  and  so  on.  Halevy 's  preface 
to  the  volume  treating  of  1881  lies  before  me.  It 
contrasts  the  Parisian  stage  at  that  date  with  the 
stage  of  a  century  previously.  In  1781  the  city  had 
but  six  theatres  all  told.  In  1881  there  were  six-and- 
twenty  without  counting  little  district  and  suburban 
ones,  cafes-concerts  and  so  forth.  Altogether  Paris 
counted  over  140  places  of  amusement  where  per- 
formances of  one  or  another  kind  were  given.  Never- 
theless, Halevy  points  out  that  the  number  of  first 
performances  and  revivals  was  virtually  as  great  in 
1781  as  it  was  a  hundred  years  later.  He  continues 
as  follows  ;— 

K 


130  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

"  To  the  pieces  of  1781,  however,  the  long  runs  of  nowadays 
were  unknown.  In  the  list  of  performances  given  on  November 
6th,  1881,  I  note  the  following  titles,  '  Mile,  de  la  Seigliere,'  '  La 
Dame  Blanche,'  '  Divorcons,'  '  Monte-Cristo,'  '  Michel  Strogoff,' 
'  Niniche,' '  Les  premieres  Amies  de  Richelieu/  '  La  Biche  au  Bois,' 
'  Les  Rendezvous  Bourgeois,'  '  La  Mascotte,'  '  La  Fille  du  Tam- 
bour-major,'etc., — all  pieces  performed  hundreds  and  even,  in 
some  instances,  thousands  of  times.  Indeed,  a  large  number  of 
pieces  produced  during  the  last  50  or  60  years  have  reached  and 
passed  their  thousandth  performance,  though  the  great  master- 
pieces of  the  Com&lie  Fra^aise  have  not  yet  had  such  good 
fortune.  ...  At  the  last  revival  (November,  1873)  of  '  Le 
Mariage  de  Figaro '  (first  performed  on  April  27,  1784)  this 
play,  during  nearly  a  century,  had  been  performed  only  606  tunes 
at  the  Comedie — an  average  of  six  performances  per  annum.  If 
I  take  the  great  tragedies  of  Racine  and  Corneille,  I  do  not  find 
a  single  thousandth  performance  attained  in  a  period  of  two 
centuries.  Between  1680  and  1789  '  Le  Cid '  was  played  445 
times,  and  between  1789  and  1870,  408  times :  total  853  per- 
formances ;  '  Horace  '  counts  only  561 ,  '  Polyeucte  '  364,  '  Cinna  ' 
622,  'Phedre'  892,  'Iphigenie'  733,  and  '  Britannicus '  611 
performances,  in  those  two  hundred  years." 

After  pointing  out  that  if  Mortier  had  lived  in 
the  eighteenth  century  he  would  not  have  had 
occasion  to  chronicle  any  hundredth-performance 
suppers,  for  authors  did  not  then  ruin  themselves  in 
providing  such  feasts,  Halevy  mentions  the  seven 
new  plays  which  were  produced  at  the  Comedie  in 
1781.  One  of  these  secured  during  the  twelvemonth 
six,  and  five  others  four  performances.  The  seventh 
piece  was  stopped  by  the  first-night  audience  when 
only  half  of  it  had  been  played.  In  the  same  year 
there  were  five  new  musical  pieces  at  the  Opera, 
which  was  then  called  officially  the  Academic  royale 
de  Musique.  During  the  earlier  part  of  1781  the 
Academic  occupied  a  house — the  Salle  Moreau— 
adjacent  to  the  Palais  Royal ;  but  on  the  8th  of  June, 
a  few  minutes  after  the  performance  had  finished,  a 
fire  broke  out  and  speedily  gutted  the  building,  ten 
persons,  moreover,  losing  their  lives  in  the  conflagra- 
tion. In  October  the  Opera  company  installed  itself 
in  a  new  house  on  the  Boulevards — this  eventually 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  131 

becoming  known  as  the  Porte-St.-Martin  theatre. 
It  was  not,  however,  the  present  building  of  that 
name,  but  one  on  the  same  site  which  was  destroyed 
by  incendiarism  during  the  last  days  of  the  Commune 
of  1871.  The  Opera  had  then  long  since  been 
transferred  to  the  Rue  Le  Peletier,  but  in  '73  the 
building  there  was  also  consumed  by  fire.  Thus  did 
the  destructive  element  pursue  the  operatic  artistes 
of  Paris  through  successive  generations,  relentlessly 
driving  them  from  one  to  another  house. 

But  let  me  return  for  a  moment  to  Halevy,  who 
relates  that  the  works  produced  by  the  Academic  de 
Musique  in  1781  included  a  one-act  piece  called  an 
opera,  next  a  "  comedy-opera,"  then  an  "  opera- 
ballet-pantomime  "  ('La  Fete  de  Mirza,'  some  of  the 
music  of  which  was  composed  by  Gretry),  and  also 
two  lyrical  tragedies,  the  music  of  both  of  these  being 
provided  by  Gluck's  rival,  Piccini.  The  first  was  his 
'  Iphigenia  in  Tauris,'  *  which  narrowly  escaped 
failure,  a  scandal  arising  during  the  performance  as 
one  of  the  vocalists,  Mile.  Laguerre,  was  plainly 
intoxicated,  whereupon  a  spectator  exclaimed  :  "  This 
cannot  be  Iphigenia  in  Tauris,  it  must  be  Iphigenia 
in  Champagne !  "  Piccini's  second  piece  that  year 
was  his  '  Adele  de  Ponthieu,'  which  served  for  the 
inauguration  of  the  Porte-St.-Martin  opera-house, 
and  for  a  gratuitous  performance  which  was  given 
to  celebrate  the  birth  of  Marie-Antoinette's  first 
son,  the  delicate  child  who  died  in  1789,  and  who 
must  not  be  confounded  with  the  younger  brother 
who  succeeded  him  as  Dauphin,  and  became  a  victim 
of  the  Revolution.  Curiously  enough  there  was  also 
a  gratuitous  performance  at  the  Grand  Opera  in 
October,  1881,  this  being  given  in  honour  of  the 
Congress  of  the  Electrical  Exhibition  then  held  in 
Paris,  and  the  house,  stage  and  lounges  being  on 
this  occasion  first  illuminated  by  electric  light. 
"A  hundred  years  previously,"  says  Halevy,  "the 

*  Sometimes  wrongly  listed  as  having  been  first  performed  in  1792. 


132  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

spectators  at  the  Opera  had  cried,  '  Vive  le  Roi ! 
Vive  la  Reine !  Vive  Monseigneur  le  Dauphin  !  ' 
In  President  Grevy's  time  they  raised  no  acclama- 
tions whatever,  but,  whilst  they  were  dispersing, 
the  band  of  the  Republican  Guard  played  the 
Marseillaise — a  slow,  pacific,  bourgeoise  Marseillaise 
—not  that  of  1793,  nor  even  that  of  1848,  but  an 
official  one,  a  government  one,  a  Marseillaise  that 
had  '  arrived.' :  If  the  witty  author  of  '  Monsieur 
et  Madame  Cardinal '  had  lived  until  the  days  of  the 
World  War  he  would  have  heard  the  Marseillaise  of 
'93  ring  out  again  ! 

Apropos  of  State  and  gratuitous  performances 
at  the  Paris  theatres,*  it  may  be  recalled  that 
Napoleon  revived  the  practices  of  the  old  regime. 
The  theatres  were  thrown  open  to  the  masses  every7 
15th  of  August,  which  was  chosen  as  his  fete  day 
and  became  generally  known  as  the  "  Saint- 
Napoleon."  Gratuitous  performances  were  given 
also  on  occasions  when  more  or  less  important  events 
were  celebrated — for  instance,  the  Emperor's  mar- 
riage with  Marie-Louise,  and  the  birth  of  their  son, 
the  King  of  Rome.  Similar  practices  were  observed 
during  the  Restoration,  the  Orleans  monarchy,  and 
the  Second  Empire,  at  which  last-named  period 
August  15  again  became  the  chief  fete  day  of  the 
year.  Not  only  was  there  free  admission  to  the 
subventioned  houses  under  Napoleon  III,  but  he 
defrayed  out  of  his  Privy  Purse  the  day's  expenses  of 
all  the  chief  Paris  theatres,  in  order  that  the  public 
might  be  admitted  to  them  without  payment.  In 
that  respect  the  Third  Republic  has  been  less  liberal, 
but  a  certain  number  of  free  performances  (as  a  rule 
matinees)  have  always  taken  place  ever  since  the 
14th  of  July  was  adopted  as  the  Fete  Nationale. 
That  there  are  great  queues  on  those  occasions  goes 

*  I  ought  to  have  mentioned  previously  that  the  Comedie  Fran9aiee 
celebrated  its  bi-centenary  in  October,  1880,  when  it  gave  nine  reprdsen- 
tations  de  gala. 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  133 

without  saying,  folk  often  beginning  to  assemble  in 
the  small  hours  of  the  morning  outside  such  houses 
as  the  Grand  Opera  and  the  Comedie  Frangaise. 

I  have  yet  to  speak  of  a  theatrical  enterprise  of 
considerable  importance  which  originated  during 
the  later  Eighties.  Stage  productions  were  then  still 
controlled  by  an  official  Censorship,  which  was 
generally  known  by  the  grandmotherly  nickname  of 
Anastasie,  and  which  authorized  or  forbade  as  it 
pleased  the  performance  of  one  and  another  piece, 
or  else  insisted  that  it  should  be  more  or  less  dras- 
tically altered.  Dramatic  writers  were  constantly 
complaining — often  with  good  reason — of  the  Censor- 
ship's interference  with  their  works.  It  must  be 
said,  however,  that  the  general  tendency  of  the  stage 
was  towards  more  and  more  outspokenness  on  social 
questions,  some  of  which  were  treated  with  a  freedom, 
a  bluntness,  which  would  have  shocked  previous 
generations.  Moreover,  in  pieces  of  a  more  frivolous 
character,  mere  drollery  was  becoming  absolute 
coarseness,  and  thus  the  Parisian  theatres  to  which, 
as  the  saying  went,  "  a  mother  might  safely  take  her 
daughter,"  became  extremely  few  in  number. 

Against  that,  it  might  be  said  that  the  stage  does 
not  exist  exclusively  for  the  entertainment  of  young 
persons,  and  also  that  the  latter  ought  not  to  be 
brought  up  in  utter  ignorance  of  the  evils  and  perils 
of  life.  I  do  not  desire  to  discuss  those  questions 
here,  for  I  am  merely  filling  the  part  of  a  chronicler, 
but  I  have  always  been  of  opinion  that  far  less  harm 
results  from  knowledge  than  from  ignorance.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  since  the  Censorship  of  the  Stage  was 
abolished  in  France  there  has  been  a  healthier 
atmosphere  in  theatrical  matters.  The  audiences 
have  taken  censorial  duties  upon  themselves,  and 
every  now  and  again  Parisian  managers  have  found 
it  necessary  to  withdraw,  after  no  more  than  one 
or  two  performances,  pieces  that  have  flagrantly 
violated  either  common  principles  of  morality  or 


134  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

elementary  canons  of  decency.  There  have  been, 
certainly,  a  few  notorious  minor  houses  where  no 
restraint  has  been  practised  or  enforced,  but  the 
patrons  of  those  establishments  have  been  found 
chiefly  among  that  fast-living  cosmopolitan  section 
of  the  population  which  includes  so  many  "  undesir- 
ables." 

In  the  Eighties,  when  the  tendencies  of  the  more 
legitimate  stage  were  such  as  I  have  stated,  there 
were  undoubtedly  instances  in  which  the  desire  to 
get  rid  of  official  restrictions  was  scarcely  prompted 
by  any  really  artistic  motive.  Several  imitators  of 
the  greater  realists  wished  to  throw  all  decorum  to 
the  winds,  just  for  the  pleasure  of  doing  so.  This 
coincided,  moreover,  with  the  uprise  of  a  number  of 
licentious  journals,  of  which  the  most  notorious  was 
a  daily  paper  called  the  '  Gil  Bias.'  Ribald  jests  and 
anecdotes  abounded  in  its  columns,  and  it  made  a 
particular  speciality  of  printing  "  short  stories  "  of  a 
libidinous  description.  The  shameless  impudicity 
of  what  the  Parisians  speedily  called  la  presse 
pornographique  caused  more  than  one  scandal,  but  no 
prosecution  for  outrage  aux  bonnes  mozurs  proved 
particularly  successful  as  a  deterrent.  For  some 
years  the  '  Gil  Bias,'  especially,  had  a  huge  circula- 
tion, which  only  fell  off  as  the  public  it  catered  for 
gradually  became  tired  of,  even  bored  by,  its  sempi- 
ternal erotics. 

Now,  whilst  the  stage  generally  was  aspiring  to 
freedom — not  of  course  (save  in  a  few  instances) 
for  the  mere  sake  of  indulging  in  obscenity  similar 
to  that  practised  for  pecuniary  profit  by  the  *  Gil 
Bias ' — the  idea  originated  of  founding  a  society  to 
promote  the  performance,  before  subscribers  only, 
of  modern  plays  which,  under  the  Censorship,  could 
not  be  given  publicly.  The  movement  was  part  of 
the  contest  then  rife  between  realism,  or  naturalism, 
and  conventionality — a  contest  which  extended  to  all 
branches  of  literature,  poetry  as  well  as  fiction,  and 


IN  THE   EIGHTIES  135 

also  biography  and  history.  One  may  even  admit 
that  the  pornographic  of  the  '  Gil  Bias '  and  similar 
journals  proceeded,  like  an  excrescence,  from  the 
evolution  which  was  then  taking  place.  M.  Andre 
Antoine  was  at  the  head  of  the  society  which  on 
being  constituted  in  October,  1887,  founded  what 
was  at  first  called  the  Theatre  Libre  or  Free  Theatre. 
At  the  outset  it  had  no  permanent  home.  Its  first 
performances  were  given  at  the  Elysee  des  Beaux 
Arts  at  Montmartre,  whence  it  removed  to  the 
Theatre  Montparnasse,  quite  on  the  other  side  of 
Paris.  In  1888,  however,  it  installed  itself  in  a  more 
central  position— securing  as  its  habitat  the  old 
Menus  Plaisirs  on  the  Boulevard  de  Strasbourg. 
The  earlier  performances  took  place  merely  once  a 
month,  and  only  members  of  the  press,  and  abonnes 
or  subscribers,  of  whom  there  were  about  300,  were 
admitted  to  them.  During  the  first  years,  among 
the  authors,  previously  unconnected  with  the  stage, 
who  had  pieces  performed  by  the  company  which 
M.  Antoine  gathered  together,  were  Henri  Lavedan, 
Paul  Margueritte,  Descaves,  Guiches,  Metenier, 
Bonnetain,  Mikael  and  Ancey.  Those  who,  so  far, 
were  but  little  known  as  playwrights,  included  George 
de  Porto-Riche,  Villiers  de  1'Isle  Adam,  Hennique, 
Paul  Arene,  Alexis,  and  Ceard.  Further,  M.  Antoine 
staged  pieces  by  Aicard,  Banville,  the  Goncourts, 
Aubanel,  Bergerat,  Mendes,  Tolstoy,  Zola  and  Ibsen. 
A  considerable  variety  of  fare  was  provided,  examples 
being  given  of  pessimistical  realism,  of  the  symbolical 
drama,  the  social  problem  drama,  and  also  of  what 
the  Parisians  call  the  "  jade  "  style,  or  genre  rosse,  of 
playwriting. 

Public  performances  of  some  of  the  Free  Theatre's 
productions  ultimately  took  place  at  the  Porte  Saint- 
Martin,  but  the  society  still  retained  its  home  on  the 
Boulevard  de  Strasbourg.  At  a  later  date  M. 
Antoine  left  it  to  assume  for  a  period  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Odeon,  but  he  afterwards  returned,  and 


136  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

the  Theatre  Libre  then  became  known  as  the  Theatre 
Antoine.  There  is  no  doubt  that  at  one  and  another 
time  Antoine  rendered  good  service  to  the  French 
stage.  He  gave  that  indispensable  "  first  chance  " 
to  several  new  writers  who  afterwards  rose  to  distinc- 
tion, and  in  like  way  new  actors  and  actresses 
obtained  opportunities  to  display  their  powers.  The 
Theatre  Libre  had  various  imitators  in  other  coun- 
tries. Otto  Brahm  started  a  similar  enterprise  at 
Berlin  in  1889,  and  this  was  followed  by  two  others 
in  the  same  city,  and  by  others  also  at  Vienna, 
Copenhagen  and  Munich  ;  whilst  in  London  (which 
Antoine's  company  visited  in  1889),  the  Independent 
Theatre  was  established. 

I  have  already  mentioned  several  of  the  chief 
pieces  produced  in  Paris  during  the  Eighties.  Here 
are  the  titles  of  a  few  more.  In  1880  the  Odeon  pro- 
duced Henri  de  Bornier's  lyric  drama,  'Les  Noces 
d'Attila,'  which  was  very  favourably  received, 
though  it  was  a  much  less  able  work  than  his  earlier 
play,  'La  Fille  de  Roland,'  performed  during  the 
Seventies.  Perhaps  the  most  successful  piece  of 
1880  was  Sardou's  '  Divorsons,'  the  subject  of  which 
was  thoroughly  "  in  the  air."  *  In  the  following 
year,  when  Dumas'  *  Princesse  de  Bagdad '  and  Zola's 
'  Nana  '  were  staged,  a  greater  intellectual  treat  was 
supplied  by  Edouard  Pailleron's  witty  masterpiece, 
'  Le  Monde  ou  Ton  s'ennuie,'  hi  which  he  portrayed 
those  pedantic  hypocritical  spheres  that  made  and 
unmade  political  and  literary  reputations.  In  '83 
the  Parisians  flocked  to  see  Ohnet's  '  Maitre  de 
Forges '  to  which  I  have  previously  referred,  f  In 
'85  Dumas  gave  us  '  Denise,'  one  of  his  strongest 
and  most  dramatic  plays,  and  in  '87  '  Francillon,' 
another  brilliant  effort,  full  of  life  and  rapid  action. 
A  second  notable  production  of  that  same  year  was 

*  Already  in  '77,  a  strong  plea  for  divorce  had  been  supplied  by 
'  Madame  Caverlet.' 
t  See  p.  109,  ante. 


IN  THE   EIGHTIES  137 

the  versatile  Sardou's  well-constructed,  stirring  but 
gloomy  drama,  '  La  Tosca,'  which  subsequently 
served  as  foundation  for  Puccini's  opera  of  the  same 
name.  In  '87,  also,  the  Opera  commemorated  by  a 
grand  gala  performance  the  centenary  of  Mozart's 
masterpiece,  '  Don  Giovanni.'  Sometime  about  that 
same  period,  unless  my  memory  deceives  me,  I 
witnessed  at  the  Opera  a  ballet  called  '  La  Farandole,' 
which  had  been  devised  by  Mortier  (the  '  Monsieur 
de  1'Orchestre  '  to  whom  I  have  previously  referred) 
in  conjunction  with  his  '  Figaro  '  colleague,  Philippe 
Gille,  and  Merante,  the  ballet-master.  To  me  the 
music,  which  was  composed  by  Theodore  Dubois, 
proved  quite  disappointing.  Dubois,  now  (1918)  an 
octogenarian,  was  born  in  Champagne,  and  his  work 
lacked  the  warmth  and  gaiety,  the  entrain  which  one 
associates  with  such  a  subject  as  the  farandole — the 
popular  dance  of  Provence.  Yet  one  might  have 
thought  that  the  sparkling  wine  of  the  Marne 
would  have  furnished  inspiration. 


VII 

THE  EIGHTIES— Concluded 

Some  Incidents  of  General  Life — Another  Death  Roll:  G.  Dore,  Leon 
Halevy,  Mme.  Mohl,  the  Bibliophile  Jacob  and  General  Schramm — 
— Unrest  in  Paris — Deaths  of  Dupuy  de  Lome  and  Milne-Edwards 
— The  Renard  Airship — The  Expulsion  of  the  Princes — The  Boulangist 
Agitation — Pasteur  and  Hydrophobia — The  Decorations  Scandal — Fall 
of  Grevy  and  Election  of  Carnot — Boulangism's  Decline  and  Fall — 
The  Municipality  and  the  Working  Classes — The  Great  Exhibition 
of  1889. 

I  HAVE  now  to  resume  my  chronicle  of  the  decade's 
principal  occurrences  in  Paris.  In  1883  the  more 
notable  political  incidents  included  the  dismissal 
of  the  Duke  d'Aumale  and  the  Duke  d'Alengon  from 
active  service  in  the  army,  a  stir  created  by  the 
expedition  to  Madagascar — which  for  a  while  threat- 
ened trouble  with  Great  Britain — another  caused  by 
a  set-back  to  the  French  arms  in  Tonquin,  and  yet 
another  occasioned  by  the  death  at  Goritz  of  the 
chief  Royalist  Pretender,  the  Count  de  Chambord. 
Meanwhile,  Waldeck-Rousseau,  as  Minister  of  the 
Interior,  had  secured  the  adoption  of  a  law  authoriz- 
ing the  establishment  of  professional  syndicates 
and  trade  unions — a  measure  which  considerably 
placated  the  Parisian  working  classes.  Another  bill 
which  the  same  statesman  successfully  piloted 
through  the  Legislature  inflicted  transportation  on 
habitual  criminals,  including  notably  the  many 
degraded  individuals  who  subsisted  on  the  immoral 
earnings  of  women.  This  enactment  purged  Paris 
of  a  large  number  of  undesirables. 

During  September  that  same  year  an  unpleasant 

138 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  139 

incident  attended  a  visit  paid  to  the  city  by 
Alfonso  XII,  the  father  of  the  present  King  of 
Spain.  He  had  just  been  to  Berlin,  and  was  on  his 
way  home  via  France.  Unfortunately,  during  his 
sojourn  in  Germany,  the  old  Kaiser  William  I  had 
conferred  on  him  the  colonelcy  of  a  regiment  of 
Uhlans  stationed  at  Strasburg.  Alfonso  had  been 
unable  to  refuse  this  distinction,  which  greatly 
angered  the  Parisians,  the  mere  mention  of  Uhlans 
and  Strasburg  arousing  the  most  bitter  feelings. 
Thus  the  King  was  subjected  to  an  extremely  hostile 
reception,  for  which  President  Grevy  and  his  Govern- 
ment had  to  apologize. 

My  previous  list  of  notable  men  who  died  during 
the  Eighties  must  be  supplemented,  I  find,  by  a  few 
names.  In  '83,  for  instance,  we  lost  Gustave  Dore, 
whose  statue  of  the  elder  Dumas,  by  no  means  an 
impeccable  monument,  was  inaugurated  in  Paris 
that  same  year.  Further,  Leon  Halevy,  the  com- 
poser, passed  away  during  '83,  as  did  also  Mme.  Mohl, 
an  Englishwoman  by  birth  (her  maiden  name  was 
Mary  Elizabeth  Clarke),  who  had  married  Julius 
von  Mohl,  the  Orientalist.  A  Wiirtemberger  by 
origin,  he  had  become,  I  believe,  a  Frenchman  by 
naturalization.  For  several  years  the  Mohl  salon  in 
the  Rue  du  Bac  was  one  of  the  chief  centres  of  a 
section  of  the  city's  cosmopolitan  society  which 
took  interest  in  scholarship,  literature  and  general 
politics.  Edmond  de  Laboulaye,  the  publicist,  also 
died  in  1883,  and  during  the  following  year  we  lost 
Mignet,  the  historian,  Paul  Lacroix,  otherwise  the 
Bibliophile  Jacob,  who  ought  to  have  been  a  member 
of  the  Academy,  and  General  Schramm,  the  "  Father 
of  the  French  Army,"  who,  born  in  the  year  of  the 
fall  of  the  Bastille,  had  distinguished  himself  in 
Napoleon's  campaigns.  I  remember  that  this  gallant 
old  warrior  applied  for  an  active  service  post  in 
1870,  at  which  time  he  was  eighty-one  years  of  age, 
and  that  he  waxed  mightily  indignant  when  it  was 


140  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

smilingly  hinted  to  him  that  perhaps  he  was  not 
quite  young  enough  for  such  employment. 

Paris  was  in  a  more  or  less  disturbed  state  during 
'84,  the  year  when  the  Divorce  Law  promoted  by 
Alfred  Naquet  was  at  last  enacted.  The  news 
which  arrived  respecting  the  Conquest  of  Tonquin 
was  at  times  unfavourable.  The  anxiety  attending 
the  expedition  to  Madagascar  had  scarcely  abated. 
Moreover  there  were  stormy  scenes  when  the  two 
branches  of  the  Legislature  met  in  Congress  at 
Versailles  to  discuss  a  partial  revision  of  the 
Constitution.*  On  the  day  of  the  National  Fete 
an  angry  crowd  smashed  several  windows  of  the 
Hotel  Continental  after  somebody  had  discovered 
that  the  German  flag  figured  among  the  banners 
displayed  there.  Apart  from  that  affair,  the  Fete 
was  a  very  quiet  one,  for  after  the  lapse  of  eleven 
years  Asiatic  cholera  was  again  prevalent  in  Paris. 
During  July  fully  a  hundred  people  succumbed  to  the 
epidemic,  which  gradually  abated  in  the  autumn, 
the  report  for  November  mentioning  only  five  cases. 
At  that  time,  however,  there  came  labour  troubles, 
some  thousands  of  workmen  being  out  of  employ- 
ment. This  led  to  a  certain  amount  of  rioting  and 
the  sacking  of  some  bakers'  shops  in  the  poorer 
districts. 

The  ensuing  year,  '85,  was  marked  by  the  re- 
election of  Grevy  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Republic. 
At  the  same  period  Madagascar  submitted  to  a  French 
Protectorate.  Generally  speaking,  the  French  were 
victorious  in  Tonquin,  but  they  became  too  venture- 
some, and  a  misfortune  which  befell  a  small  part  of 
their  forces,  and  which  was  magnified  by  some  news- 
papers into  a  "  great  disaster,"  brought  about  the 
downfall  of  the  ministry  over  which  Jules  Ferry 
presided.  Henri  Brisson  took  his  place,  and  in  the 
autumn  Parisian  Republicans  were  considerably 
disturbed  by  the  result  of  the  general  elections, 

*  See  my  '  Republican  France,'  p.  281. 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  141 

which  showed  a  tremendous  increase  in  the  number 
of  votes  cast  for  Royalist  or  Bonapartist  candidates. 
This  was  the  outcome  of  the  adoption  of  list- voting, 
the  hobby  of  Gambetta's  last  years.  Brisson's 
administration  thereupon  retired,  and  was  succeeded 
by  one  under  Freycinet,  he  taking  as  Minister  of 
War  General  Ernest  Boulanger,  who  was  soon  to 
become  the  idol  of  unthinking  Parisians. 

During  May,  Victor  Hugo  died,*  and  at  the  end 
of  the  month  there  was  a  demonstration  of  Com- 
munards at  Pere  Lachaise  cemetery.  Other  demon- 
strations occurred  at  the  funerals  of  sundry  former 
members  of  the  Commune,  Cournet,  Amouroux  and 
Jules  Valles — the  last-named  a  writer  of  no  mean 
ability,  but  one  whose  nature  had  been  warped  by 
the  sufferings  of  a  painfully  poverty-stricken  child- 
hood. Other  noteworthy  deaths  which  occurred 
that  year  and  which  were  omitted  from  my  previous 
list,  were  those  of  Dupuy  de  Lome — who  designed 
the  first  French  ironclad,  '  La  Gloire,'  and  who 
devoted  his  latter  years  to  the  study  of  aerial  naviga- 
tion,!— and  of  Henri  Milne-Edwards,  distinguished 
in  the  natural  sciences. 

The  anti-German  demonstration  on  July  14,  '84, 
was  followed  by  an  anti-British  one  on  the  fete  day 
of  '85.  Some  of  the  Parisians  had  "  grievances  " 
against  us.  There  was  not  only  the  question  of 
Egypt,  for  we  declined  to  recognize  the  French 
protectorate  over  Madagascar,  and,  moreover,  we 

*  See  also  p.  90. 

f  He  constructed  a  cigar  or  sausage-shaped  airship  in  the  Seventies, 
and  I  remember  witnessing  some  unsuccessful  experiments  which  were 
made  with  it  at  Vincennes.  Some  of  Dupuy  de  Ldme's  ideas  were  utilized, 
however,  by  Captains  Renard  and  Krebs  when  they  constructed  their 
dirigible  in  1884.  More  than  once  from  my  garden  at  Boulogne-sur- 
Seine  I  saw  this  airship  travelling  slowly,  in  perfectly  calm  weather,  to  and 
from  the  Military  Aerostatical  School  established  at  Meudon  already  in 
1871.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  Renard  airship  could  have  sailed  against 
a  stiffish  wind.  At  least  I  never  saw  it  try  to  do  so.  Nevertheless  the 
fact  that  it  could,  in  calm  weather,  travel  from  one  to  another  given  point 
indicated  a  notable  progress  in  aeronautics.  Dupuy  de  L6me  must  have 
been  gladdened  by  the  sight  of  it  during  the  last  year  of  his  life. 


142  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

had  invaded  Burmak,  much  to  the  chagrin  of  various 
prominent  Frenchmen.  During  the  same  month 
(July)  some  great  conflagrations  occurred  on  the 
northern  side  of  Paris,  and  incendiarism  was  sus- 
pected. In  the  first  instance  the  fire,  which  origi- 
nated at  a  piano  factory,  spread  over  the  cemetery 
of  Saint-Ouen,  where  the  trees  blazed  freely,  whilst 
many  coronals  and  wooden  crosses  raised  over  graves 
were  destroyed.  The  second  fire  gutted  five  large 
blocks  of  workmen's  dwellings  at  Batignolles,  and 
several  people  succumbed  to  the  injuries  which  they 
received.  An  interesting  little  incident  of  the  year 
was  the  sale  by  auction  of  the  throne  of  Louis  XIV. 
It  had  been  overlooked  during  the  Revolution,  but 
was  now  exhumed  from  the  Garde  Meuble,  otherwise 
the  State  Furniture  Depository,  where  it  had  been 
preserved  ever  since  the  King's  death.  It  was 
"  knocked  down  " — to  a  showman,  I  believe — for 
the  trifling  sum  of  £260.  What  a  shock  for  the 
spirit  of  the  sun-like  grand  Monarque !  In  the 
following  year  the  Crown  Diamonds  (apart  from 
the  historic  "  Regent  "  for  which  Philippe  d' Orleans 
gave  £80,000)  were  also  disposed  of  by  auction. 
When  this  measure  was  discussed  in  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies  one  of  the  Royalist  deputies,  M.  de 
Lanjuinais,  grandson  of  a  President  of  the  Conven- 
tion, remarked  with  a  shrug  of  the  shoulders,  that 
the  matter  was  one  of  little  moment,  for  it  would  in 
no  wise  prevent  the  monarchy  from  being  restored. 

That  same  year,  however,  a  severe  blow  was 
dealt  to  the  Royalist  and  Bonapartist  Pretenders. 
The  indiscreet  behaviour  of  the  Count  de  Paris  in 
connection  with  the  marriage  of  his  daughter,  the 
Princess  (now  ex-Queen)  Amelie,  to  Dom  Carlos  of 
Portugal,  provoked  the  expulsion  from  France  of 
"  the  heads  of  the  families  "  that  had  previously 
reigned  over  the  country,  and  of  "  their  direct  heirs 
by  order  of  primogeniture."  A  protest  which  the 
Duke  d'Aumale  addressed  to  President  Grevy  led 


IN  THE  EIGHTIES  143 

to  his  inclusion  in  this  measure,  which  caused  con- 
siderable excitement  in  Paris,  though  there  were 
no  demonstrations,  the  Royalists  and  Bonapartists 
counting  but  few  adherents  in  the  capital.  However, 
an  old  Royalist  Senator,  M.  de  Lareinty,  challenged 
the  War  Minister  Boulanger,  and  they  fought  a  duel 
with  pistols  in  the  park  of  Meudon.  Nothing 
tragical  ensued,  as  Boulanger's  weapon  missed  fire, 
whilst  Lareinty's  aim  was  bad. 

The  Boulangist  agitation,  which  lasted  until  1890, 
was  now  beginning.  The  General  had  already  made 
himself  extremely  popular.  He  was  acclaimed  by 
thousands  when  he  appeared  riding  a  black  charger 
at  the  review  held  at  Longchamp  on  the  National 
Fete  day.  Paulus,  the  vocalist,  soon  afterwards 
popularized  a  song  entitled  '  En  Rev'nant  de  la 
Revue,'  which  was  sung  all  over  Paris  and  speedily 
travelled  through  the  provinces,  whilst  in  England 
during  the  ensuing  year  its  tune  served  for  a  ditty 
called  '  Jubilation  Day,'  in  allusion  to  Queen 
Victoria's  Jubilee.  Paul  Deroulede's  '  League  of 
Patriots,'  established  in  view  of  a  war  of  revanche, 
proclaimed  Boulanger  to  be  the  coming  man,  and 
there  were  frequent  bellicose  demonstrations  which 
the  German  press  roundly  denounced  as  menaces  to 
the  peace  of  Europe.  Boulanger  certainly  fanned 
the  excitement  by  several  imprudent  speeches.  Yet 
France  was  in  no  position  to  declare  war  on  the 
Germanic  Empire.  She  would  only  have  courted 
disaster  had  she  done  so,  for  she  was  absolutely 
without  alliances. 

Whilst  unrest  was  increasing  in  Paris  the  Legis- 
lature passed  a  Bill  authorizing  the  construction  of 
a  metropolitan  railway  line,  and  Pasteur  reported 
to  the  Academy  of  Sciences  that  his  system  of 
inoculation  for  hydrophobia  was  proving  very  satis- 
factory. He  had  already  inoculated  350  persons, 
in  part  at  his  newly-established  Institute  in  the  Rue 
Dutot,  and  in  all  but  one  case  (brought  to  him  too 


144  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

late)  cure  had  been  effected.*  About  the  same  time 
the  Anthropological  Society,  which  had  secured 
possession  of  Gambetta's  brain  after  his  death,  made 
it  publicly  known  that  this  seat  of  the  great  states- 
man's intellect  weighed  1161  grammes,  whereas 
Cuvier's  brain  had  weighed  1829.  Traditionally,  the 
weight  of  Cromwell's  was  greater  than  either  of  the 
foregoing. 

In  March,  '86,  the  speculators  assembled  at  the 
Bourse  were  scared  by  a  lunatic,  who,  leaning  over 
from  an  upper  gallery,  flung  a  bottle  filled  with  some 
evil-smelling  compound  into  their  midst,  and  fired, 
fortunately  with  no  ill-effect,  three  revolver  shots, 
whilst  shouting  :  "  Vive  1'anarchie  !  "  In  June 
there  was  a  memorable  race  for  the  Grand  Prix  de 
Paris,  which  was  won  by  Mr.  Vyner's  Minting,  with 
Fred  Archer  "  up  "  —Upas  and  Sycamore,  which  had 
previously  run  a  dead-heat  for  the  Prix  du  Jockey 
Club,  or  French  Derby,  at  Chantilly,  being  defeated. 

Among  the  notabilities  who  died  in  Paris  that 
same  year  were  three  painters,  each  in  his  way  a 
gifted  man — first,  Paul  Baudry,  whose  name  remains 
associated  with  the  Grand  Opera,  next  Karl  Daubigny, 
well  known  for  his  landscapes,  and  thirdly  Edouard 
Frere,  whose  little  genre  paintings,  often  of  peasant 
interiors,  were  at  one  time  much  admired. 

The  following  year  f  was  one  full  of  turmoil.  The 
Boulangist  and  Revanche  agitation  grew  apace. 
Only  with  difficulty  was  war  with  Germany  averted. 
At  last,  after  the  accession  of  a  Ministry  under 
Maurice  Rouvier,  Boulanger  was  excluded  from  office 
and  exiled,  as  it  were,  to  a  command  in  Auvergne. 
Later,  came  a  great  scandal  over  the  sale  of  the 
decoration  of  the  Legion  of  Honour.  General 
Caffarel,  whom  Boulanger  had  appointed  Under- 

*  The  great  scientist's  remains  rest  in  the  crypt  of  the  Institute.  It 
was  not  formally  inaugurated  until  1886. 

|  It  was  then  that  the  fire  at  the  Opera  Comique  occurred.  See  p.  117, 
ante. 


THE  END   OF  THE   EIGHTIES         145 

Chief  of  the  Staff  at  the  War  Office,  General  Count 
d'Andlau,  a  Senator,  General  Thibaudin,  ex-Minister 
of  War,  an  adventuress  named  Limouzin,  who  was 
probably  in  German  pay,  and  President  Grevy's 
son-in-law,  Daniel  Wilson,  an  ex-viveur  of  the  Boule- 
vards, were  all  more  or  less  implicated  in  this  un- 
pleasant affair.  So,  too,  in  a  minor  degree,  were 
Mme.  Kattazzi,  a  connection  of  the  Bonapartes, 
Gragnon,  the  Prefect  of  Police,  and  Taylor,  the 
Chief  of  the  Detective  Force.  Grevy  refused  to 
believe  in  the  guilt  of  his  son-in-law,  who  lived  with 
him  at  the  Elysee,  whence  he  exercised  a  control 
over  several  newspapers  and  carried  on  a  variety  of 
intrigues,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  the  Legislature 
constrained  the  President  to  resign  his  office.  The 
scandal  afterwards  "  fizzled  out."  La  Limouzin 
was  sent  to  prison  for  six  months,  whereas  she 
deserved  much  greater  punishment;  Caffarel  was 
fined  £120  for  indiscreet  conduct;  Thibaudin,  it  was 
found,  had  only  been  victimized,  Count  d'Andlau 
fled  to  South  America  to  escape  judgment,  Gragnon 
was  cashiered,  and  Wilson  ultimately  secured  ac- 
quittal, it  being  held  by  the  Appeal  Court  that  his 
offences  did  not  come  within  the  law,  as  he  had  only 
promised  "  to  try  "  to  obtain  the  Legion  of  Honour 
for  sundry  applicants.  However,  he  had  to  pay 
£1600  for  having  impudently  "  franked "  all  his 
business  and  private  correspondence  with  the  Presi- 
dential stamp. 

Cuvillier-Fleury,  the  able  critic  .and  publicist, 
long  connected  with  the  '  Journal  des  Debats,'  died 
in  the  course  of  1887.  He  was  one  of  our  last  links 
with  the  Napoleonic  period,  for  early  in  life  he  had 
been  private  secretary  to  Louis  Bonaparte,  some 
time  King  of  Holland.  Later,  Louis-Philippe  had 
appointed  him  tutor  to  the  Duke  d'Aumale. 

The  fall  of  Grevy  was  attended  by  several 
demonstrations  in  Paris.  Communards  and  Socialists 
momentarily  allied  themselves  with  Deroulede's 

L 


146  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

League  of  Patriots.  Ex-members  of  the  Commune 
harangued  the  crowds  and  even  tried  to  provoke  a 
march  on  the  H6tel-de-Ville,  but  by  the  firmness  of 
General  Saussier,  the  Military  Governor,  further 
disorders  were  prevented.  In  face  of  the  strenuous 
opposition  offered  to  the  election  of  Jules  Ferry, 
Sadi  Carnot  was — largely  at  Clemenceau's  suggestion 
— chosen  to  replace  Grevy  as  President  of  the 
Republic.  Tirard,  who  became  Prime  Minister, 
selected  General  Logerot  as  War-Minister,  and 
Logerot  placed  Boulanger  on  half-pay,  and  at  a 
later  stage  compulsorily  retired  him,  for,  contrary 
to  law,  he  had  accepted  a  parliamentary  candidature 
in  the  Aisne  department.  Boulanger  was  now 
secretly  in  league  with  the  Royalists,  taking  sub- 
sidies from  the  Count  de  Paris  and  the  Duchess 
d'Uzes,  but  this  was  unknown  to  the  genuine 
Republicans  who  still  supported  him.*  He  was 
elected  in  the  Aisne,  the  Nord,  the  Somme,  the 
Charente  Inferieure  and  Paris  in  the  course  of 
successive  bye-elections,  and  also  polled  a  great 
many  votes  elsewhere,  his  repeated  candidatures 
virtually  assuming  the  character  of  a  plebiscitum. 
After  his  triumph  in  Paris  (January,  '89)  a  coup 
d'etat  on  his  part  seemed  possible,  but  he  shrank 
from  attempting  one — this  being  due  to  the  influence 
of  his  mistress,  the  divorced  Mme.  de  Bonnemains. 

The  League  of  Patriots  was  afterwards  dissolved 
by  Constans,  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  who  in 
conjunction  with  Yves  Guyot,  Minister  of  Public 
Works,  and  others,  also  decided  to  have  Boulanger 
arrested,  for  it  was  now  known  that  he  was  associated 
with  the  Royalists  in  a  great  conspiracy  to  overthrow 
the  Republic.  He  became  alarmed  and  fled  first 
to  Brussels,  "and  later  to  London,  whither  many  of 
his  acolytes  followed  him.  On  charges  of  con- 
spiracy, he,  Count  Dillon,  and  Henri  Rochef  ort,  were 

r     *  The  rise  and  fall  of  Boulangisin  are  recounted  in  detail  in  my  volume 
'Republican  France.' 


THE   END   OF  THE   EIGHTIES         147 

sentenced  by  the  Senate  sitting  as  a  High  Court  of 
Justice,  to  transportation  to  a  fortified  place,  but 
being  in  safety  on  our  side  of  the  Channel  they 
treated  these  sentences  with  indifference.  However, 
Boulangism  was  now  dying  out  in  France.  The  eyes 
of  the  Republican  masses  had  been  opened,  and  at 
the  General  Elections  of  '89  all  but  twenty-two 
Boulangist  candidates  were  defeated  at  the  polls. 
Boulanger  himself  quitted  London  and  removed 
with  his  mistress,  who  was  now  in  an  advanced  state 
of  consumption,  to  Jersey  and  afterwards  to  Brussels, 
where  Mme.  de  Bonnemains  died  in  July,  1891. 
Boulanger  shot  himself  dead  beside  her  grave  on  the 
last  day  of  the  ensuing  September. 

Let  me  now  .return  for  a  moment  to  the  year 
1888.  One  of  its  outstanding  incidents  was  the 
murder  of  an  unfortunate  woman  by  her  "  lover,"  a 
scoundrel  named  Prado,  who  killed  her  in  order  to 
appropriate  her  jewellery  and  bonds.  He  paid  the 
extreme  penalty  for  his  crime  outside  the  prison  of 
La  Roquette,  on  the  morning  of  the  28th  December, 
when  in  spite  of  the  bleak  weather,  thousands  of 
people  hurried  to  see  him  guillotined.  But  only 
privileged  spectators  and  those  who  secured,  at  high 
prices,  the  comparatively  few  available  windows  over- 
looking the  little  square  had  that  satisfaction,  for 
under  the  Third  Republic  the  guillotine  has  not  been 
raised  on  a  scaffold — as  in  earlier  times — but  fixed 
to  the  ground,  the  space  reserved  for  it  being  sur- 
rounded by  cordons  of  police  and  men  of  the  Repub- 
lican Guard,  both  horse  and  foot,  in  such  wise  that 
folk  in  the  rear  can  scarcely  obtain  a  faint  glimpse 
of  what  takes  place. 

The  Paris  Municipal  Council  included  strong 
Socialist  elements  at  the  period  with  which  I  am 
dealing.  On  a  strike  of  glass  workers  occurring 
in  the  suburb  of  Pantin  during  1888,  the  Council 
voted  the  men  a  subsidy — a  distinctly  illegal  pro- 
ceeding, which  was  quashed  by  the  authorities.  The 


148  PARIS  AND   HER  PEOPLE 

Council  was  more  within  its  rights  when  it  framed 
new  regulations  for  municipal  workshops,  and  laid 
down  the  conditions  under  which  it  would  grant 
contracts.  These  conditions  specified  that  there 
should  be  no  sub-contracting,  that  certain  rates 
should  be  paid  to  the  workmen,  that  the  ordinary 
working  day  should  be  limited  to  nine  hours,  and 
that  an  extra  25  per  cent,  should  be  paid  for  over- 
time, unless  it  were  at  night,  when  the  pay  was  to  be 
doubled.  Similar  conditions  exist  nowadays  in  many 
industries,  but  in  the  year  of  grace  1888  they  were 
regarded  by  employers  as  being  absolutely  too 
dreadful,  too  abominable,  and  for  some  months 
hostilities  prevailed  between  the  Municipal  Council  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  superior  authorities  and  the 
employers  on  the  other.  Matters  were  ultimately  com- 
promised, the  advantage  resting  with  the  municipality. 

During  that  same  year  the  Legislature  passed  a 
law  for  the  registration  of  all  foreigners  visiting 
France  or  residing  there.  It  may  be  taken  that  on  the 
eve  of  the  Great  War  the  foreign  residents  numbered 
in  round  figures,  1,100,000  men,  women  and  children, 
over  a  third  of  these  being  Italians,  and  another 
third  belonging  to  the  Belgian  nationality.  The 
Germans  of  both  sexes  did  not  exceed  90,000.  In 
regard  to  Paris  I  find  that  the  city  was  visited  in 
1912  by  nearly  522,000  foreigners,  119,000  coming 
in  the  months  of  July  and  August. 

About  the  end  of  '88,  or  very  early  in  '89,  the 
Panama  Canal  Company,  which  had  been  in  diffi- 
culties for  the  past  four  years,  suspended  pay- 
ment owing  to  its  inability  to  place  the  bulk  of  its 
authorized  lottery-bonds.  Great  scandals  ensued, 
adding  to  all  the  unrest  which  Boulangism  provoked 
in  Paris.  To  make  matters  worse,  a  crisis  arose  in 
the  affairs  of  the  Comptoir  d'Escompte,  owing  to 
its  relations  with  a  company  called  the  Societe 
des  Metaux,  a  reckless  attempt  to  corner  copper 
having  brought  about  the  trouble.  The  Comptoir's 


THE  END   OF  THE  EIGHTIES         149 

Governor,  Denfert-Rochereau,  committed  suicide, 
whilst  Secretan  of  the  Societe  des  Metaux  was 
arrested,  and  after  being  brought  to  trial,  sentenced 
to  six  months'  imprisonment.  The  sale  of  his 
valuable  art  gallery,  which  included  Millet's  famous 
picture,  '  L'Angelus,'  attracted  connoisseurs  and 
dealers  from  many  countries. 

The  Bank  of  France  and  the  Rothchilds  combined 
to  prevent  a  great  financial  panic  ;  nevertheless, 
much  uneasiness  existed  and  circumstances  seemed 
to  be  scarcely  propitious  for  the  great  International 
Exhibition  which  Carnot  inaugurated  on  the  6th  of 
May,  1889.  On  the  previous  day,  whilst  he  was 
driving  to  Versailles  to  deliver  an  address  on  the 
great  Revolution,  he  was  fired  at  by  a  half-witted 
young  fellow,  who  was  afterwards  sentenced  to  four 
months'  imprisonment.  With  the  Parisians  gener- 
ally, Carnot  enjoyed  a  greater  amount  of  popularity 
than  had  fallen  to  any  of  his  predecessors — Thiers, 
MacMahon  or  Grevy.  Wherever  he  went  that  year, 
'89,  whether  it  was  to  the  Exhibition  itself,  to  the 
Opera  Gala,  to  the  inauguration  of  the  new  Sorbonne 
(university  buildings),  or  the,  great  gathering  of  the 
mayors  of  France  at  the  Palais  de  1' Industrie,  he  was 
most  favourably  received. 

The  Exhibition  proved  a  greater  success  than  had 
been  anticipated.  It  was  held  in  commemoration 
of  the  French  Revolution,  on  which  account  several 
European  monarchies  had  declined  to  participate 
in  it.  For  instance,  the  German  Empire  and  the 
German  Kingdoms  kept  aloof.  So  did  Austria  and 
Hungary.  Spain  followed  their  example,  Turkey 
and  Denmark  also.  Sweden  and  Norway,  then 
under  one  sovereign,  disagreed  on  the  subject  in 
such  wise  that  whilst  Norway  was  officially  repre- 
sented, Sweden  supplied  only  a  few  individual 
exhibitors.  The  same  may  be  said  respecting 
Germany  and  Turkey.*  On  the  other  hand,  the 

*  German  Exhibitors  included  71  belonging  to  Alsace-Lorraine. 


150  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

States  which  took  part  in  the  gathering  officially, 
included,  besides  Norway,  Great  Britain  (1535 
exhibitors),  the  United  States  (1674  exhibitors), 
Italy,  Belgium,  Holland,  Portugal,  Serbia,  Japan, 
and  some  of  the  South  American  Republics.  Alto- 
gether there  were  55,486  exhibitors,  the  French  ones 
exceeding  30,000.  The  foreign  royalties  who  visited 
the  exhibition  were  the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales 
(Edward  and  Alexandra),  the  Dukes  of  Edinburgh 
and  Cambridge,  the  Greek  sovereign  George  I,  the 
Duke  of  Braganza,  later  King  Carlos  of  Portugal, 
Ferdinand,  then  Prince  of  Bulgaria,  the  Shah  of 
Persia,  and  half  a  dozen  minor  personages  who  did 
not  feel  disturbed  by  any  recollections  of  the  fall  of 
the  Bastille.  With  respect  to  the  general  public  it 
appears  that  there  were  about  22,300,000  payments 
for  admission  and  not  more  than  3,000,000  free 
admissions,  the  receipts  thus  being  more  consider- 
able than  had  been  expected.  The  guarantee  bonds 
for  the  enterprise  (they  were  issued  by  the  Credit 
Foncier)  carried  with  them  a  chance  of  winning 
prizes,  and  there  were  admission  tickets  attached 
to  them. 

The  space  which  the  Exhibition  occupied  was 
larger  than  on  any  previous  occasion.  The  most 
conspicuous  feature  was  the  Eiffel  Tower  rising  to  a 
height  of  985  feet ;  but  a  remarkable  sight  was  also 
presented  by  the  great  Machinery  Gallery,  1378  feet 
in  length,  377  feet  in  width,  and,  in  its  central  part, 
147  feet  high.  In  the  grounds  were  a  number  of 
specimen  villages  or  habitations  of  the  natives  of 
different  French  colonies  and  protectorates — Algeria, 
Kabylia,  Tunis,  Senegal,  Madagascar,  Tahiti,  Guiana, 
Guadaloup,  Cochin  China,  Annam,  Tonquin  and 
so  forth;  and  particularly  interesting  was  the 
so-called  "street  of  Cairo,"  with  its  various  dwelling- 
places,  shops,  cafes  and  side-shows.  But  the  "  belly 
dance  "  performed  by  girls  at  one  of  the  places  of 
entertainment  could  not  be  accounted  an  edifying 


THE  END   OF  THE   EIGHTIES         151 

spectacle.  There  were,  however,  many  other  attrac- 
tions, including  a  number  of  Fetes  de  Nuit,  when  the 
"  luminous  fountains "  played.  On  the  National 
Fete  day  that  year  there  was  a  solemn  inauguration, 
on  the  Place  de  la  Nation — once  the  Place  du  Trone — 
of  Dalou's  fine  monument,  the  "  Triumph  of  the 
Republic,"  in  which  the  sculptor  endeavoured  to 
symbolize  concord  among  all  citizens  under  the 
benign  sway  of  the  law.  A  statue  of  Camille 
Desmoulins,  who  is  credited  with  having  directed  the 
attack  on  the  Bastille,  was  also  inaugurated  during 
the  summer. 

But  whatever  festivities  might  be  held,  the 
decade  of  the  Eighties  ended  gloomily.  A  prodigious 
quantity  of  mud  was  yet  to  be  stirred  up  in  the  course 
of  the  long  investigations  into  the  Panama  Canal 
affair,  and,  meanwhile,  Labour,  both  in  Paris  and 
elsewhere,  continued  in  a  very  restless  mood,  and 
Anarchist  theories  were  being  steadily  diffused 
through  various  parts  of  the  country,  this  leading, 
during  the  earlier  Nineties,  to  an  Anarchist  reign  of 
terror  in  Paris,  and,  a  little  later,  to  the  assassination 
of  President  Carnot. 

I  have  yet  to  mention  a  few  deaths  which  occurred 
towards  the  end  of  the  Eighties.  In  '88  died  Mar- 
guerite Fides-Devries,  and  in  '89  Tamberlick,  both 
of  whom  had  previously  retired  from  the  operatic 
stage,  with  which  only  an  indirect  connection  could 
be  claimed  by  the  Marquis  de  Caux,  who  likewise 
passed  away  at  the  date  I  have  reached.  Sometime 
an  equerry  to  Napoleon  III,  and  the  brilliant 
conducteur  du  cotillon  at  the  Tuileries  balls,  M.  de 
Caux  became  the  first  husband  of  the  famous  prima 
donna,  Adelina  Patti,  whose  senior  he  was  by  thirteen 
years.  He  obtained  a  separation  from  her,  and  this 
became  automatically  transformed  into  a  divorce 
after  the  passing  of  the  Naquet  law  in  1884.  Other 
men  of  note  who  died  in  '89  were  General  Faidherbe, 
who  in  '70-' 71  had  gloriously  linked  his  name  with 


152  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

those  of  Bapaume  and  Saint- Quentin ;  Cabanel  the 
portraitiste,  Ernest  Havet,  the  erudite  editor  of 
Pascal's  "  Pensees,"  and  Champfleury  (real  name, 
Husson),  who,  apart  from  directing  the  famous 
porcelain  manufactory  of  Sevres,  is  credited  with 
having  first  applied  the  word  realisme  to  that  branch 
of  literature  which  endeavoured  to  depict  life  as  it 
really  was.  The  realism  which  may  be  found  in 
Champfleury 's  own  writings  is,  however,  of  quite 
a  timid  description.  The  term  was  already  falling 
into  discredit  at  the  time  of  Flaubert  and  Zola, 
and  the  bolder  writers  discarded  it  in  favour  of 
naturalism. 

Yet  another  whilom  literary  celebrity  who  died 
during  the  Eighties  was  Paul  Feval,  the  author  of 
that  famous  romance,  *Le  Bossu,'  which,  with  the 
help  of  Anicet  Bourgeois,  he  turned  into  a  highly 
successful  melodrama — an  English  adaptation  being 
entitled  'The  Duke's  Motto.'  Feval  had  no 
genuine  reason  to  be  ashamed  of  *  Le  Bossu '  or 
of  any  other  of  his  many  romans  de  cape  et  (Tepee, 
but  he  became  ultra-pious  in  his  later  years,  and 
spent  much  of  his  time  in  seeking  out  copies  of  the 
writings  which  had  made  him  popular,  and  de- 
liberately destroying  them.  After  his  death,  in 
1887,  several  were  reprinted. 


VIII 

THE   DECADE    OF  THE  NINETIES 

The  "  Flu  "  in  Paris— Nihilists  in  Franco— The  terrible  Winter  of  '90-'91 
— The  Mont  de  Piete" — The  London-Paris  Telephone — M.  Chauchard 
and  Millet's  '  Angelas  ' — Meissonier  and  his  '  1814  ' — Escapade  of  the 
Duke  d'Orleans — Attempts  on  President  Carnot — The  Parisian  Dust- 
bin— Sir  Richard  Wallace — Octave  Feuillet  and  Erckmann — Chatrian 
— Ex-President  Grevy — Du  Boisgobey  and  his  Stories — Albert 
Wolff,  Aime  Millet,  Delibes,  Litolff,  and  Celine  Montaland — Lebel 
of  the  Rifle — Baron  Haussmann  and  Jules  Ferry — A  Great  Loan  and 
a  Financial  Collapse — The  Empress  Frederick  and  the  French  Artists — 
The  '  Pari  Mutuel ' — The  Academy  and  Zola's  Candidatures — Prince 
Napoleon  Jerome — The  Bonaparte  Family  Likeness — Bartholdi's 
Statuary— The  Cafe  Procope  and  others — The  Brasseries  of  Paris 
and  Beer-Drinking— The  'Rat  Mort'— The  Cafes-Concerts— The 
'  Chat  Noir ' — Sardou's  '  Thermidor  ' — The  Comedie  Francaise  again — 
Some  Musical  Pieces — Zola  and  Bruneau — 'The  Opera  Directorate — 
Some  English  Adaptations  of  Parisian  Plays. 

THERE  were  numerous  cases  of  influenza  in  Paris 
already  in  1889,  and  during  the  following  year  and 
'91  the  epidemic  was  still  very  prevalent  there. 
In  Western  Europe  it  was  at  that  time  generally 
called  the  Russian  influenza,  but  in  Russia  itself 
it  had  become  known  as  the  Chinese  distemper,  and 
some  scientists  propounded  the  theory  that  its  germ 
originated  in  dust  compounded  of  Yellow  River  mud 
and  the  bodies  of  drowned  Chinamen,  there  having 
been  great  inundations  in  China  during  '88.  It  was 
shown  that  the  epidemic  had  come  from  China  on 
several  previous  occasions,  and  had  usually  taken 
a  westerly  course,  inclining  somewhat  southward, 
whence  it  travelled  towards  the  north.  The  French 
scientists  of  the  present  time  state  that  the  symptoms 
of  the  outbreak  of  1918,  currently  called  the  Spanish 
"  flu,"  are  identical  with  those  of  1889-91,  and 
the  supposition  is  that  the  malady  again  came  from 

153 


154  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Asia,  taking  a  south-westerly  course,  and  passing  on 
its  way  through  Turkey,  where  the  Sultan  succumbed 
to  it,  before  reaching  Spain,  whence  it  proceeded 
northward,  the  winds  serving  as  vehicles  to  the 
germ-containing  dust. 

During  1890  several  municipal  councillors  of 
Paris  became  involved  in  an  unpleasant  scandal, 
having  secured  for  themselves  a  large  number  of 
newly  issued  City  Bonds  under  circumstances  by 
which  they  were  enabled  to  dispose  of  them  at  a 
considerable  premium.  Fortunately,  some  municipal 
elections  soon  afterwards  enabled  the  Parisians  to 
get  rid  of  these  corrupt  councillors,  who  belonged 
to  the  Boulangist  faction.  The  investigations  into 
the  affairs  of  the  Panama  Canal  Company  were 
now  proceeding,  and  Eiffel,  the  constructor  of  the 
famous  tower,  was  constrained  to  refund  some 
£120,000,  which  he  had  received  in  advance  on 
account  of  a  very  onerous  contract.  Many  rumours 
of  maladministration  were  in  circulation,  and  no 
little  uneasiness  prevailed  in  Parisian  financial  circles. 
In  May  that  year  a  number  of  Russian  Nihilists  were 
arrested  at  Le  Raincy,  in  the  suburbs  of  Paris, 
where  they  were  found  making  explosives,  and  during 
November  the  city  was  startled  by  the  murder  of 
General  Seliverskoff,  a  former  Minister  of  Police, 
at  the  Hotel  de  Bade  on  the  Boulevard  des  Italiens. 
The  assassin,  a  Pole  named  Padlewski,  escaped  with 
the  connivance  of  some  French  revolutionaries, 
notably  a  certain  Labruyere,  a  journalist,  and  a 
Madame  Duc-Quercy  who  was  married  to  a  notorious 
agitator.  She  and  Labruyere  were  sent  to  prison 
for  their  share  in  the  affair,  the  French  authorities 
being  the  more  zealous  in  taking  action,  as  the 
Franco-Russian  entente,  which  afterwards  developed 
into  an  alliance,  was  in  course  of  preparation.  During 
the  following  year  a  French  squadron  under  Admiral 
Gervais  visited  Cronstadt,  where  it  was  inspected  by 
the  Czar. 


IN  THE  NINETTES  155 

The  winter  of  '90-' 91  proved  as  terrible  in  Paris 
as  it   did  in   London.     The  Parisians   had  known 
nothing  so  severe  since  the  latter  part  of  the  German 
siege   in   '70-'71.     Almost   all   the   deer  tribe,  the 
buffaloes  and  other  herbivorae,  kept  at  the  Jardin 
des  Plantes,    perished  during   the    long   frost.      In 
order  to  relieve  the  general  distress  the  Legislature 
voted  £250,000  without  a  dissentient  voice.     The 
Municipality  followed   this    example,   and   shelters 
were  opened,  food  supplied  and  fires  kept  burning 
in  many  squares  and  streets.     It  was  even  decided 
that  prisoners  undergoing  light  sentences  and  about 
to  be  released  might,  if  they  preferred  it,  remain  in 
prison  until  the  severity  of  the  weather  abated,  and 
more  than  700  poor  devils  availed  themselves  of  this 
permission.     Great  crowds  of  poverty-stricken  folk 
(the  frost  impeded  all  outdoor  work)  flocked  to  the 
shelters  and  the  fires  on  the  snow-covered   Champ 
de  Mars,  where  cauldrons  of  warming,  comforting 
soup  were  always  simmering.     All  the  beds,  22,000 
in  number,  at  the  hospitals  and  asylums  of  Paris, 
remained    occupied    and    the    Assistance   Publique 
provided  1200  camp-beds  in  addition.     Everybody 
knows  how  partial  the  Parisian  is  at  all  seasons  to 
salads.     In  January,  '91 ,  the  charge  for  small  portions 
of  dandelion  and  doucette  averaged  half  a  crown. 
An  unfrozen  cabbage  could  only  with  difficulty  be 
obtained  for  a  franc,  whilst  parsley  was  worth  almost 
its  weight  in  gold.     Briefly  "  war  prices  "  prevailed 
for  every  kind  of  green  stuff,   whilst  root  plants 
were   almost   unobtainable   as   they   could   not   be 
lifted  from  the  frost-bound  soil.     Naturally,  there 
was  a  great  shortage  of  water,  and  in  some  suburban 
localities  a  gallon  of    the  fluid  cost    half    a  franc. 
London  suffered  severely  at  the  same  period,  and 
that  winter's  severity  was  likewise  felt  in  southern 
Europe,  and  even  across  the  Mediterranean  where 
Algiers  and  Tunis  were  wrapped  in  snow. 

At  such  times  of  distress  the  Paris  Mont  de  Piete 


156  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

or  official  pawnbroking  administration  is,  of  course, 
largely  patronized.  It  does  not  only  lend  money  on 
all  such  articles  that  are  usually  pawned  in  London, 
but  it  makes  advances  on  bonds  of  various  descrip- 
tions— such  as  French  Rentes,  Municipal,  Depart- 
mental and  Railway  Stock,  Colonial  Loans,  Foreign 
Funds,  and  Credit  Foncier  bonds — this  having 
become,  of  more  recent  years,  a  very  important 
branch  of  the  Mont  de  Piete's  business.  On  valeurs 
mobilieres  such  as  I  have  mentioned  nearly  £440,000 
were  lent  in  the  course  of  1912.  During  the  same 
year  the  pledges  of  an  ordinary  description  exceeded 
1,200,000  in  number,  and  the  amount  lent  on  them 
was  nearly  £1,928,000.  For  loans  on  Rentes  and 
other  approved  stocks  interest  has  to  be  paid  at  the 
rate  of  6  per  cent,  per  annum,  and  there  is  a  fixed 
charge  of  25  centimes  on  every  100  francs  advanced. 
In  regard  to  other  pledges  the  interest  is  7  per 
cent.,  plus  a  fixed  charge  of  one  franc  for  every 
100  franc  loan.  It  should  be  stated  that  in  order 
to  lend  money  the  Mont  de  Piete  borrows  it  on  the 
security  of  bonds,  and  pays  3J  per  cent,  when  the 
loan  is  for  more  than  one  year,  3  per  cent,  when  it 
is  for  a  year  only,  and  1  per  cent,  (per  annum) 
when  it  is  merely  for  three  months.  In  this  wise 
the  administration  borrowed  £2,214,000  in  1910, 
about  £2,354,000  in  1911,  and  over  £2,380,000  in 
1912.  The  great  bulk  of  this  money  was  lent  to  it 
for  the  exact  period  of  one  year.  Renewals  of 
existing  loans  for  about  £2,000,000  were  included 
in  the  figures  I  have  given,  new  loans  being  repre- 
sented by  the  rest  of  the  money. 

The  General  Director  of  the  Institution  (nowadays 
M.  Martin-Feuillee)  is  assisted  by  a  Council  of  Super- 
vision which  includes  the  Prefect  of  the  Seine,  the 
Prefect  of  Police,  three  Municipal  Councillors,  and 
three  members  of  the  Public  Assistance  administra- 
tion. In  addition  to  the  chief  establishment  in  the 
Rue  des  Blancs  Manteaux,  a  narrow  street  of  the 


IN  THE  NINETIES  157 

Marais  district,  there  are  three  principal  branch 
offices  (which,  like  the  chief  one,  keep  open  on 
Sundays)  and  twenty-two  district  offices  designated 
by  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  from  A  to  Y.  A 
number  of  commissaires-priseurs,  who  estimate  the 
value  of  the  pledges  which  are  tendered,  and  sell  by 
auction  those  which  remain  unredeemed,  are  attached 
to  the  offices,  and  are  remunerated  at  the  rate  of 
one-half  per  cent,  on  the  amounts  lent,  and  of 
3  per  cent,  on  the  proceeds  of  the  sales.  In  1912 
nearly  £16,000  were  apportioned  between  the  com- 
missaires  and  certain  employes  assisting  them. 
The  general  expenses  of  the  institution  during  the 
same  year  amounted  in  round  figures  to  £118,000. 

In  the  early  part  of  1891  Paris  and  London 
were  connected  by  telephone,  and  on  March  16  the 
first  words  that  ever  travelled  under  the  waters  of 
the  Channel  were  flashed  from  country  to  country. 
The  route  of  the  English  land-line  followed  the 
South-Eastern  Railway  to  a  point  near  Sidcup, 
whence  it  proceeded  by  road  or  rail  to  St.  Margaret's 
Bay,  between  Deal  and  Dover.  It  was  85  miles 
long,  whereas  the  French  land-line  from  Sangatte, 
between  Calais  and  Boulogne,  had  a  length  of  204 
miles.  The  connecting  cable,  designed  by  Preece, 
was  laid  by  the  steamship  '  Monarch,'  after  a  good 
deal  of  difficulty  owing  to  tempestuous  weather,  but 
at  last,  on  the  day  I  have  mentioned,  St.  Martins-le- 
Grand  was  "  called  up  "  and  informed  that  every- 
thing was  accomplished.  A  few  evenings  later, 
when  five  receivers  had  been  connected  to  the  new 
line,  the  performance  gat  the  Grand  Opera  in  Paris 
could  be  distinctly  heard  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the 
London  General  Post  Office.  So  clear  were  the 
sounds  of  the  orchestra  that  the  notes  of  the  piccolo 
could  be  plainly  identified.  The  vocalists  were  also 
heard  distinctly,  and  so  was  the  applause  of 
the  audience  and  its  calls  of  "  Bis  !  Bis  !  " — for 
which  we  substitute  the  word  "  Encore  !  "  The 


158  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

transmitters  were,  naturally,  microphones  placed  on 
the  Opera-house  floor.  Nowadays  we  think  little 
of  any  such  achievement,  but  it  seemed  to  most  of 
us  very  wonderful  in  the  year  of  grace  1891. 

In  referring  in  my  last  chapter  to  the  downfall 
of  the  financier  Secretan  of  the  Societe  des  Metaux 
I  had  occasion  to  mention  Millet's  famous  painting 
c  L'Angelus.'     When  Secretan' s  picture-gallery  was 
dispersed   this   painting   was   momentarily   lost   to 
France,  being  acquired  by  the  American  Art  Associa- 
tion for  a  sum  of  £22,120.     However,  M.  Chauchard, 
the   millionaire   partner    of    Major   Heriot  in  that 
famous  emporium  the  Grands  Magasins  du  Louvre, 
became  desirous  of  acquiring  Millet's  work,  and  the 
American  purchasers  were  generous  enough  to  let 
him  have  it  for  no  more  than  £34,000.     The  news- 
papers related  at  the  time  that,  after  Chauchard 
had  placed  '  L'Angelus '  in  his  gallery  he  gave  a 
dinner  to  celebrate  the  occasion,  and  that  each  of 
his  guests  found  under  his  napkin  a  commemorative 
silver  medal,  on  which  were  engraved  the  figures 
appearing  in  the  painting  and  a  suitable  inscription. 
The  same  wealthy  "  linen-draper  "  had  previously 
acquired  Meissonier's  picture  now  generally  known 
as   '1814,'  though  when  it  was  first  exhibited  at  the 
Salon  of  1865  it  was  entitled  '  Campagne  de  France.' 
At  that  time  a  M.  Delahante  purchased  it  for  £2800, 
and  afterwards  resold  it  for  £20,000 ;    but  when  it 
passed  to  M.  Chauchard  he  had  to  pay  the  same 
price  as  he  afterwards  gave  for  '  L'Angelus.' 

Meissonier,  who  was  a  native  of  Lyons,  born  in 
the  year  of  Waterloo,  died  in  the  course  of  '91.  His 
ambition  to  become  a  Senator,  even  as  Lord  Leighton 
had  become  a  peer,  was  never  realized.  During  his 
lifetime  his  pictures  fetched  very  large  amounts 
of  money.  I  have  seen  some  of  his  tiny  canvases, 
such  as  might  be  enclosed  in  a  card-case,  sold  for 
£1600  and  more  at  the  auction-rooms  in  the  Rue 
Drouot ;  and,  as  already  indicated,  his  larger  works, 


IN  THE  NINETIES  159 

which  were  small  in  comparison  with  those  of  other 
historical  painters — for  instance,  30  by  20  inches 
were  the  dimensions  of  *  1814 ' — ended  by  com- 
manding enormous  sums.  Since  Meissonier's  death, 
however,  there  has  been  a  great  slump  in  the  value 
set  upon  his  works,  though  as  time  brings  round  so 
many  changes,  particularly  in  what  may  be  called, 
perhaps,  artistic  "fashions,"  the  future  may  have 
yet  another  Meissonier  boom  in  store  for  us. 

I  must  now  momentarily  revert  to  1890  in  order 
to  repair  some  accidental  omissions.  In  February 
that  year  the  young  Duke  d' Orleans,  son  of  the 
Comte  de  Paris,  arrived  in  Paris  from  Lausanne, 
and  after  putting  up  at  the  residence  of  his  friend 
the  Duke  de  Luynes,  signified  to  the  officials  of  the 
recruiting  office  in  the  Rue  Saint-Dominique  that, 
having  reached  the  requisite  age,  he  had  come  to 
serve  his  time  in  the  army.  Being,  however,  after 
his  father,  the  direct  heir  of  the  House  of  Bourbon, 
his  presence  in  France  was  prohibited  by  the  Law 
of  Exile,*  and  the  authorities  therefore  arrested 
him  and  lodged  him  in  that  famous  prison  of  the 
Conciergerie,  which  is  so  closely  associated  with  the 
revolutionary  Reign  of  Terror.  The  Prince  had 
expressed  the  desire  to  share  with  his  fellow- 
conscripts  the  contents  of  the  usual  army  gamdle 
or  porringer,  but  while  he  was  under  arrest  the 
Government  provided  him  with  very  superior  fare 
—some  of  the  menus  being  printed  by  the  news- 
papers— and  the  prisoner  did  not  hesitate  to  partake 
of  it.  His  desire  to  share  the  soldiers'  gamdle  was 
ridiculed  by  a  good  many  Boulevardian  journalists, 
and  for  a  considerable  period  the  nickname  of 
Gamelle  was  currently  applied  to  him.  On  being 
tried  by  one  of  the  Correctional  Courts  for  having  in- 
fringed the  Law  of  Exile  he  defended  himself  with 
some  spirit,  but  was  sentenced  to  two  years'  im- 
prisonment and  transferred  to  the  maison  centrale 

*  See  p*  142,  ante. 


160  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

of  Clairvaux,  originally  an  abbey  founded  by  St. 
Bernard,  where  he  remained  for  about  four  months, 
when  he  was  pardoned  by  presidential  decree,  and 
conducted  to  the  Swiss  frontier. 

The  Royalist  party  had  evidently  based  some 
hopes  on  this  affair.  No  sooner  had  the  Prince  been 
arrested  than  Paris  was  flooded  with  portraits  of 
him.  Street-hawkers,  provided  with  lavish  supplies 
of  them,  importuned  one  at  every  step,  but  the 
Prince,  as  I  have  already  indicated,  reaped  ridicule 
instead  of  popularity  from  his  adventure.  Later, 
on  May  Day  that  year,  some  of  the  Royalists,  in- 
cluding the  Marquis  de  Mores  and  the  Marquis  de 
Saint  Hurugue,  abetted  Louise  Michel,  the  crazy 
Red  Virgin,  and  other  revolutionaries,  in  trying 
to  stir  up  some  riots  in  the  streets,  but  a  number 
of  strong  patrols  were  on  duty  and  no  serious  dis- 
turbances occurred. 

One  evening  in  June  there  was  almost  a  panic 
at  the  Comedie  Frangaise  owing  to  an  accident  with 
the  electric  light.  More  serious,  towards  the  end  of 
the  year,  was  a  fire  at  the  Grand  Cafe  on  the  Boule- 
vards, this  also  being  due  to  a  defect  in  the  electric 
light  arrangements.  During  the  National  Fete  that 
year  President  Carnot  was  fired  on  for  the  second 
time,*  but  the  authorities  afterwards  stated  that 
only  a  blank  cartridge  had  been  employed  by  his 
assailant,  a  lunatic  named  Jacob.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  truth  in  that  respect,  it  will  be 
remembered  that  the  third  attempt  made  on  the 
President,  that  of  Caserio  at  Lyons,  proved  fatal, 
thus  confirming  superstitious  people  in  their  belief 
that  "  the  third  time  is  never  like  the  others." 
The  cause  celebre  of  1890  was  the  trial  of  a  man 
named  Eyraud  and  his  mistress  Gabrielle  Bompard 
for  the  murder  of  M.  Gouffe,  a  Paris  huissier 
or  process-server.  Both  prisoners  were  convicted, 
Eyraud  being  sentenced  to  death  and  Bompard  to 

*  ISee  p.  149,  ante. 


IN  THE   NINETIES  161 

twenty  years'  penal  servitude.  It  was  during  this 
same  year  that  the  authorities  first  ordered  that 
the  Paris  cabs  should  be  provided  with  compteurs 
indicating  both  the  distance  covered  and  the  length 
of  time  during  which  they  were  engaged,  some 
"  fares  "  taking  them  by  time  and  others  by  the 
course  or  journey. 

It  was  also,  I  believe,  during  1890  that  M.  Pou- 
belle,  then  Prefect  of  the  Seine,  ordered  that  all 
houses  should  be  provided  with  dustbins  and  that 
tenants  should  have  these  receptacles  deposited 
at  an  early  hour  on  the  pavement  kerbs  in  order 
that  they  might  be  emptied  by  the  scavengers  into 
their  carts  when  these  came  by.  The  edict  caused 
universal  consternation  and  innumerable  protests 
among  the  combined  fraternity  and  sisterhood  of 
rag-pickers,  who,  almost  from  time  immemorial, 
had  earned  their  living  by  searching  the  heaps  of 
refuse  which  littered  the  streets  during  the  smaller 
hours.  It  also  provoked  considerable  grumbling 
among  tenants  and  house-porters  ;  but  it  was  a  good 
measure,  tending  to  better  sanitation,  and  the  rag- 
pickers' occupation  has  not  altogether  departed, 
for  they  still  contrive  to  glean  something  of  value 
to  them  from  among  the  many  poubelles.  In  all 
likelihood  the  Prefect  did  not  foresee  that  his  edict 
would  immortalize  him,  but  his  name  was  at  once 
bestowed  on  the  receptacles  he  had  ordered,  and  it 
has  clung  to  them  ever  since.  Although  the  ap- 
pellation has  not  yet  been  endorsed  by  the  French 
Academy,  the  Parisians  would  deem  it  affectation 
to  call  a  poubelle  by  any  other  name.  The 
expression,  an  odeur  de  poubelle,  is  often  used  to 
designate  an  unpleasant  smell. 

During  1890  Paris  lost  one  of  her  very  best  friends 
in  the  person  of  the  gifted  and  generous  Sir  Richard 
Wallace.  His  name  is  perpetuated  throughout  the 
city  by  the  little  drinking  fountains  erected  at  his 
expense  in  1872  and  ensuing  years.  They  are 

M 


,162  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

125  in  number.  During  the  German  siege  of  '70-'71, 
Wallace  gave  large  sums  to  alleviate  the  distress 
among  the  poor,  and  in  later  years  nobody  who  was 
really  in  want  ever  appealed  to  him  in  vain.  In 
the  same  connection — that  of  philanthropy — one 
may  perhaps  claim  as  an  English  foundation  the 
asylum  for  the  aged  established  by  William  Galig- 
nani,  of  the  well-known  firm  of  booksellers,  though 
it  is  true  that  at  the  time  of  his  death  (1882)  Galignani 
was  a  French  citizen  by  naturalization. 

Another  noteworthy  death  occurring  in  '90  was 
that  of  the  brilliant  stylist  Octave  FeuiUet,  who  was 
followed  by  Chatrian,  long  Erckmann's  collaborateur 
in  so  many  stories  of  Alsace  and  the  Napoleonic 
wars.  Apart  from  his  literary  work,  Chatrian  was 
an  official  in  the  head  offices  of  the  Eastern  Railway 
Company.  His  faculties  became  impaired  during 
the  later  period  of  his  life,  when,  after  working  for 
so  many  years  in  perfect  harmony  with  Erckmann, 
he  contracted  the  delusion  that  the  latter  had  de- 
frauded him  in  connection  with  '  L'Ami  Fritz.' 
Erckmann  proved,  however,  that  the  greater  part  of 
this  work  had  been  written  by  himself.  Friends 
subsequently  attempted  to  bring  the  old  colldborateurs 
together  again,  but  they  were  never  reconciled. 

Quite  a  number  of  prominent  people  passed  away 
during  '91.  I  can  refer  to  only  a  few  of  them. 
They  included  Grevy,  the  former  President  of  the 
Republic,  who  was  buried  at  his  native  place,  Mont- 
sous- Vaudrey  in  the  Jura,  at  the  expense  of  the 
State,  for  it  was  generally  recognized  that  he  had 
rendered  considerable  services,  and  that  his  chief 
fault  had  been  his  misplaced  confidence  in  his 
son-in-law,  Daniel  Wilson.  Grevy  was  too  much  of 
a  bourgeois  to  be  really  popular  among  the  Parisian 
masses,  who  at  the  time  of  the  Legion  of  Honour 
scandal  had  so  freely  hummed  the  ditty,  "Ah,  quel 
malheur  d'avoir  un  gendre,"  but  on  his  death 
becoming  known,  he  was  widely  pitied. 


IN  THE   NINETIES  163 

Doubtless  the  severe  winter  of  1890-91 — the  six 
weeks  of  frost  with  the  thermometer  at  18°  and 
20°  Fahrt. — was  responsible  for  many  of  the  deaths 
which  occurred  early  in  the  latter  year.  Among 
those  who  then  joined  the  majority  was  Fortune 
du  Boisgobey,  the  popular  novelist,  for  the  English 
versions  of  several  of  whose  works  I  was  responsible. 
His  real  name  was  Castille,  which  suggested  a  Spanish 
origin,  but  by  birth  he  was  a  Norman  of  Granville. 
After  serving  as  an  army  paymaster  in  Algeria  he 
travelled  in  the  East,  and  did  not  take  to  writing 
stories  until  1868,  when  he  was  forty-three  years  old. 
From  that  moment,  however,  and  until  his  death 
feuilleton  after  feuilleton  poured  from  his  restless 
pen.  I  have  no  complete  list  of  his  stories  by  me, 
but  there  must  have  been  quite  forty,  some  of  them 
extending  to  two  volumes.  Shortly  after  his  death 
we  lost  a  writer  of  far  greater  artistry,  a  real  litte- 
rateur, in  the  person  of  Theodore  de  Banville,  one  of 
the  chiefs  of  the  so-called  Parnassian  School,  and 
of  whose  '  Odes  f unambulesques '  Victor  Hugo  said : 
"  How  full  of  wisdom  is  that  merriment !  How  full 
of  common  sense  is  that  insanity  !  ':  Banville  also 
wrote  a  delightfully  amusing  little  prose  comedy 
called  '  Gringoire  ' — the  name  of  its  hero,  a  hungry 
Bohemian  poet. 

Early  in  '91  died  one  of  the  best  known  of  the 
Boulevardian  journalists,  a  writer  who  could  pass 
rapidly  from  lively  to  severe  and  back  again  with  a 
light  yet  sure  touch,  and  whom  nobody,  judging  by 
his  many  '  Chroniques  de  Paris '  in  '  Le  Figaro,' 
would  have  taken  to  be  a — German.  Yet  Albert 
Wolff  was  born  at  Cologne  and  educated  at  Bonn, 
and  first  came  to  Paris  as  correspondent  of  the 
'  Allgemeine  Zeitung.'  But  he  attracted  the  notice 
of  Dumas  the  elder,  and  became  one  of  his  secretaries. 
Like  his  compatriot  Heine,  Wolff  detested  Prussia ; 
and,  like  Offenbach,  he  became  a  naturalized  French- 
man. Had  Heine,  Offenbach  and  Wolff  been  alive 


164  PARIS   AND  HER  PEOPLE 

in  1914-18  an  indiscriminating  crowd  would  probably 
have  demanded  their  "  internment." 

Sculpture  lost  Aime  Millet  during  that  same 
year,  and  music  had  to  regret  the  loss  of  Leo 
Delibes  and  Henri  Litolff.  Celine  Montaland  of 
the  Comedie  Fran9aise  was  carried  off  at  the  early 
age  of  forty-seven.  She  was  of  Belgian  birth,  and 
though  one  could  not  call  her  a  great  artiste,  she  was 
a  clever  and  witty  one.  She  had  been  on  the 
boards  ever  since  her  sixth  year,  when  she  had 
appeared  as  a  child  at  the  Comedie.  Later,  as  a 
young  girl,  she  had  acted  the  part  of  Charlotte 
Corday  with  real  power  and  ability.  Extremely 
good  looking  at  one  time,  it  was  said  that  all  the 
hobbledehoys,  all  the  elder  schoolboys,  of  Paris 
were  in  love  with  her,  even  as  those  of  a  slightly 
earlier  date  had  been  in  love  with  Dejazet.  But 
Celine's  embonpoint,  the  ever-increasing  opulence  of 
her  charms — which  led  people  to  remark  that,  in 
her  case,  the  presence  of  du  monde  au  balcon  was 
indisputable— developed  to  such  a  point  that  there 
were  at  last  only  few  parts  that  she  could  take  with- 
out incurring  ridicule.  She  was  for  a  considerable 
time  the  particular  friend  of  Coquelin  cadet. 

Colonel  Lebel,  the  inventor  of  the  famous  rifle 
which  superseded  the  chassepot,  and  which  is  still  used 
— with  good  effect,  as  we  know — by  the  French  army, 
also  died  in  '91,  when  but  53  years  old.  He  had 
fought  at  Sedan  and  had  been  taken  prisoner  there. 
At  the  same  time  a  notable  Alsatian  passed  away  in 
the  person  of  Bishop  Freppel  of  Angers,  who  had 
formerly  been  at  the  head  of  the  Catholic  College 
of  Strasburg.  He  had  chosen  French  nationality 
after  the  Franco-German  war,  and  become  a  member 
of  the  Chamber  of .  Deputies.  A  prelate  of  Ultra- 
montane views,  he  took  a  leading  part  in  all 
the  agitation  for  the  restoration  of  the  temporal 
power. 

Alsace  could  also  claim  a  son  in   the  famous 


IN  THE  NINETIES  165 

Baron  Eugene  Georges  Haussmann,  who,  after 
attending  the  funeral  of  the  Duke  of  Leuchtenberg 
during  the  severe  weather  in  February,  '91,  was 
suddenly  struck  down  by  cerebral  congestion.  It 
is  true  that  Haussmann  was  born  in  Paris,  but  he 
was  of  Alsatian  stock,  his  family  belonging  to  Colmar. 
His  father  was  one  of  the  principal  commissariat 
officers  of  Napoleon,  who  rewarded  him  for  his 
services  with  the  title  of  Baron.  Haussmann  was 
a  Protestant  and  married  to  the  daughter  of  a 
wealthy  Swiss  merchant.  In  1853  Napoleon  III 
appointed  him  Prefect  of  the  Seine,  and  he  retained 
that  office  until  May,  1870.  It  was  during  the  period 
that  elapsed  between  those  dates  that,  under  his 
aegis,  Paris  underwent  that  sweeping  transformation 
which  was  the  wonder  of  all  who  beheld  it.  Slums 
were  destroyed  on  all  sides ;  narrow,  crooked  streets 
disappeared  as  by  enchantment ;  straight,  broad,  tree- 
lined  thoroughfares  were  laid  out  in  every  direction, 
the  first  garden-squares  were  planted,  the  wildernesses 
of  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  and  the  Bois  de  Vincennes 
gave  place  to  ornamental  parks,  the  sewerage  and 
lighting  systems  were  developed,  a  hundred  palatial 
public  edifices  were  erected,  the  old  Central  Markets 
were  utterly  transformed,  new  bridges  were  thrown 
across  the  Seine,  and  on  every  side  six  or  seven- 
storied  stone-fronted  houses  arose  along  the  streets. 
Under  the  Third  Republic  the  Prefecture  of  the  Seine 
and  the  Parisian  Municipality  have  right  zealously 
carried  on  the  work  which  Haussmann  so  ably  began. 
Schemes  devised  in  his  time  have  been  brought  to 
fulfilment,  together  with  very  many  others,  that  have 
made  Paris  such  as  it  is  to-day. 

But  Haussmann  spent  money  without  counting. 
Under  the  imperial  regime  there  was  no  elected 
municipality  to  control  him.  Whilst  his  own  hands 
remained  from  first  to  last  absolutely  clean,  there 
was  more  than  one  corrupt  official  under  him,  and  a 
thousand  speculators  and  jobbers  made  fortunes  out 


166  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

of  the  many  improvements,  and  the  city's  debt  in- 
creased by  leaps  and  bounds.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it 
has  been  increasing  ever  since,  and  one  must  not 
assume  that  there  have  been  no  scandals  under  the 
Republican  administrations,  which  at  times  indeed 
have  expended  money  on  public  improvements  even 
more  lavishly,  more  recklessly,  than  Haussmann 
did.  At  the  same  time  it  is  an  indisputable  fact 
that  his  accounts  became  terribly  muddled. 

It  was  this  circumstance  which  brought  Jules 
Ferry  to  the  front.  Ferry,  whom  I  hold  to  have 
been  a  greater  constructive  statesman  than  Gam- 
betta,  belonged  to  a  family  established  for  centuries 
in  the  little  town  of  Saint-Die  in  Lorraine.  He  was 
educated  at  the  Lycee  of  Strasburg,  became  a  barrister 
and  married  an  Alsacienne.  On  his  father's  death 
he  left  the  bar,  and  in  order  to  obtain  an  opening 
in  political  spheres  joined  the  Opposition  press  in 
Paris.  He  was  already  known  as  a  writer  of  ability 
when  he  took  up  the  question  of  Haussmann's 
administration  from  the  financial  standpoint,  and 
under  the  title  of  '  Les  Comptes  f  antastiques  d' 
Haussmann ' — suggested,  of  course,  by  the  '  Contes 
f  antastiques  d'  Hoffmann  ' — wrote  for  '  Le  Temps  ' 
a  series  of  slashing  articles  on  the  muddled  accounts 
of  the  Paris  Prefect.  Reproduced  as  a  booklet, 
Ferry's  attack  caused  a  tremendous  sensation  and 
circulated  far  and  wide.  It  led  to  his  election  as  a 
deputy  for  Paris  (1869),  after  which  he  continued 
denouncing  Haussmann's  administration  in  the  Corps 
Legislatif,  all  this  tending  to  the  Baron's  downfall, 
which  took  place  when  Emile  Ollivier  reorganized 
his  Ministry.  Looking  back,  one  may  say  that 
Ferry's  onslaught  on  Haussmann  was  in  various 
respects  unjust,  and,  whatever  may  have  been  the 
Baron's  remissness  in  financial  matters,  it  must  be 
allowed  that  subsequent  generations  of  Parisians  have 
reaped  no  slight  benefits  from  his  great  achievements 
in  ridding  their  city  of  so  many  sores,  and,  in  addition 


IN   THE  NINETIES  167 

to   increasing   its  beauty,   improving   all  the  con- 
ditions of  life  prevailing  within  its  limits. 

Maurice  Rouvier,  who  in  '91  was  Finance  Minister 
under  Freycinet,  launched  that  year  a  great  State 
Loan  the  success  of  which  was  the  more  wonderful 
as  it  was  issued  only  a  year  or  so  after  the  Panama 
Canal  Company  had  suspended  payment  with  lia- 
bilities affecting  800,000  investors.     The  loan,  which 
bore  3  per  cent,  interest,  the  price  of  issue  being  92 
frs.  55  centimes  (per  100  francs),  was  one  for  nearly 
thirty-five  millions  sterling.     Paris  alone  subscribed 
that   sum   several  times   over,   and   including   the 
provincial    subscriptions    some    five    hundred    and 
fifty-six  million  pounds  were  tendered  to  the  Govern- 
ment.    Yet,  quite  apart  from  the  Panama  scandal, 
which  still  continued,  there  were  other  occurrences 
in  the  financial  world  which  were  by  no  means  of  a 
nature   to   inspire   confidence.     For   instance,    the 
Bank   of    France   had   to    advance   £2,400,000   to 
prevent  a  run  on  certain  houses  in  Paris,  where 
about   the   same  time   a   banker  named   Berneau, 
carrying  on  business  as  V.  Mace  &  Co.,  failed  with 
liabilities  of  £700,000.     This  was  a  case  of  fraudulent 
bankruptcy,  and,  as  in  the  Union  Generate  affair,* 
the  victims  included  a  thousand  priests  and  fully 
a  dozen  bishops.     Berneau  had  baited  them  with 
promises  of  phenomenal  interest  on  all  money  that 
they  might  deposit  with  him.     For  a  short  time, 
indeed,  he   paid  his  "  clients  "  10  per  cent,  every 
month,  thereby  attracting  more  and  more  victims 
to  his  snare.     Such  "  frenzied  finance  "  was  bound, 
however,  to  end  in  disaster. 

It  must  be  said  that  under  the  present  Republic 
there  have  been  many  instances  of  fraud  on  the  part 
of  small  private  mushroom  banks  in  Paris.  Such 
cases  continued  down  to  the  beginning  of  the  Great 
War,  though  it  had  long  been  evident  that  drastic 
revision  of  the  banking  laws  was  greatly  needed. 

*  See  p.  106,  ante. 


168  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

During  February,  '91,  the  Empress  Frederick, 
eldest  daughter  of  Queen  Victoria  and  mother  of 
William  II,  who  had  then  been  German  Kaiser 
for  about  three  years,  paid  a  most  unexpected 
visit  to  Paris.  People  wondered  what  its  object 
could  be,  and  all  sorts  of  fantastic  rumours  began  to 
circulate.  It  was  presently  ascertained,  however, 
that  the  Empress's  purpose  was  to  persuade  the 
leading  French  artists  to  participate  in  an  Inter- 
national Art  Exhibition,  which  was  to  be  held  at 
Berlin.  The  old  saw  that  art  knew  no  frontiers 
and  could  be  confined  to  no  particular  nationality 
came  to  the  front  once  more,  and  as  the  Empress 
was  of  English  birth  and  pleaded  her  purpose  adroitly, 
a  number  of  French  painters  eventually  promised 
their  co-operation.  Scarcely,  however,  had  this 
been  arranged  when  the  Empress  blundered  badly 
by  going  down  to  Versailles  to  inspect  the  palace 
there,  including  notably  Louis  XIV's  "  Gallery  of 
Mirrors"  where  the  German  Empire  was  proclaimed 
in  January,  1871.  This  immediately  gave  great 
offence.  The  French  artists  withdrew  the  promises 
they  had  made,  and  demonstrations  would  have 
ensued  had  it  not  been  for  the  police  precautions 
which  were  taken. 

It  was  during  1891  that  the  pari  mutuel  betting 
system  was  first  instituted  on  French  racecourses.* 
At  the  outset  the  suppression  of  the  ordinary  book- 
makers caused  a  great  "  slump  "  in  the  number  of 
race-goers,  the  attendance  at  the  Auteuil  spring 
meeting  being  the  smallest  known.  Before  long, 
however,  matters  righted  themselves  in  this  respect, 
and  the  pari  mutuel  system  rapidly  became  popular. 
During  May  the  drivers  of  the  Paris  omnibus  company 

*  See  also  pp.  286,  287,  post,  where  I  ought  to  have  mentioned  that  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  pari  mutud  tax,  2  per  cent,  goes  to  municipal  poor 
relief,  whilst  1  per  cent,  is  allotted  to  horse-breeding,  and  grants  are  also 
made  to  insure  or  improve  the  water-supply  of  localities  near  the  race- 
courses. 


IN  THE  NINETIES  169 

treated  us  to  a  strike,  which  in  the  then  limited 
state  of  communications  threatened  very  serious 
inconvenience.  But  the  municipality  intervened, 
and  the  men  secured  both  shorter  hours  and  better 
pay,  as  they  desired. 

M.  de  Freycinet,  the  Prime  Minister,  had  been 
elected  a  member  of  the  French  Academy,  in  the 
place  of  Emile  Augier,  towards  the  end  of  1890. 
During  the  ensuing  twelvemonth  Lieutenant  Julien 
Viaud,  known  to  literature  as  Pierre  Loti,  was 
elected  to  the  fauteuil  left  vacant  by  the  death  of 
Octave  Feuillet,  triumphing  easily  over  his  two 
competitors,  Henri  de  Bornier,  the  author  of  '  La 
Fille  de  Roland,'  and  the  apostle  of  naturalism, 
Emile  Zola.  A  great  literary  battle  was  still  being 
waged  around  the  latter' s  personality.  The  days  of 
'  Nana '  and  '  Pot  Bouille '  were  past,  but  if  the 
delicate  story  called  '  Le  Reve  % — following  that 
picture  of  brutishness  '  La  Terre  '—might  be  regarded 
as  a  peace  offering  to  those  whom  the  portraiture 
of  nature's  ugly  side  offended,  the  next  volume  of 
the  Rougon-Mac  quart  series,  '  La  Bete  humaine,' 
once  more  sounded  a  loud  note  of  defiance.  Zola, 
it  will  be  remembered,  long  persevered  in  his  candi- 
datures of  the  Academy,  but  was  never  elected; 
and  though  of  later  years  more  or  less  erotic  writers, 
such  as  Bourget,  Lavedan,  and  Marcel  Prevost, 
have  found  favour  among  the  Immortals,  I  do  not 
believe  that  he  would  ever  have  secured  admission 
to  the  Palais  de  FInstitut  even  had  he  lived  until 
the  present  time.  The  august  compagnie  had  no 
room  for  him,  any  more  than  it  had  for  Balzac  and 
Dumas  the  Elder. 

In  the  latter  part  of  March,  '91,  Paris  learnt  that 
Prince  Napoleon  had  passed  away  at  Rome  in  the 
arms  of  his  long-neglected  wife,  the  pious  and 
charitable  Princess  Clotilde.  His  death  reduced  the 
number  of  Pretenders  to  the  throne  of  France,  though, 
of  course,  Bonapartism  was  still  represented  by  his 


170  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

son,  Prince  Victor — now  generally  known  as  Prince 
Napoleon  and  married  to  the  Princess  Clementine 
of  Belgium.  The  son  of  Jerome  Bonaparte,  some 
time  King  of  Westphalia,  was  once  wittily  and  at 
the  same  time  truthfully  described  as  "  the  most 
brilliant  failure  of  the  nineteenth  century."  He 
was  possessed  of  great  abilities.  He  spoke  extremely 
well,  had  a  ready  wit,  and  was  by  no  means  destitute 
of  political  acumen,  but  his  disposition  was  un- 
certain, vacillating,  and  his  career  marked  by  many 
inconsistencies.  During  the  Empire  his  cousin, 
Napoleon  III,  had  allotted  the  Palais  Royal  to  him 
as  residence,  which  circumstance,  perhaps,  inclined 
him  to  play  in  a  mild  sort  of  way  the  part  of  a 
Philippe  Egalite  in  opposition  to  the  Tuileries. 
But  this  "  Cesar  declasse,"  as  Edmond  About  wittily 
called  the  Prince,  was  never  taken  seriously  by 
the  Parisians.  They  doubted — probably  with  good 
reason — the  sincerity  of  the  liberalism  which  he 
affected,  and  the  coterie  of  very  clever  men  who 
surrounded  him  failed  in  every  attempt  to  make 
him  popular.  Under  the  Third  Republic  he  joined 
in  the  campaign  against  MacMahon's  reactionary 
policy  and  sat  in  the  National  Assembly  as  a  Repub- 
lican ;  he  also  publicly  approved  of  the  expulsion  of 
the  Jesuits  and  other  orders  in  1880,  yet  immediately 
after  the  death  of  Gambetta  he  issued  a  manifesto 
in  which  he  posed  as  a  champion  of  the  Church 
and  accused  the  Republic  of  persecution.  Later 
he  coquetted  with  General  Boulanger,  to  whom 
he  promised  the  sword  worn  by  Napoleon  at 
Marengo. 

I  remember  that  the  Prince  showed  me  that 
weapon  and  quite  a  number  of  other  interesting 
Napoleonic  relics,  when  I  interviewed  him  shortly 
after  the  death  of  the  young  Prince  Imperial  in  South 
Africa  had  made  him  the  chief  representative  of  the 
Bonapartes.  Facially  Prince  Napoleon  strongly  re- 
sembled the  great  Emperor  in  his  later  years,  but  he 


IN  THE  NINETIES  171 

was  a  much  bigger,  bulkier  man.*  I  can  recall  a 
curious  looking  "  Pompeian  villa  "  which  he  built 
in  the  Champs  Elysees  during  the  Second  Empire, 
and  which  the  Parisians  of  those  days  associated 
with  all  sorts  of  more  or  less  supposititious  orgies. 
Certainly  the  Prince's  private  life  was  by  no  means 
exemplary.  The  famous  tragedienne  Rachel  was  at 
one  period  his  mistress,  but  he  afterwards  lowered 
himself  to  protect  the  notorious  harlot  Cora  Pearl, 
who  quitted  him  after  a  time,  as  he  did  not  loosen 
his  purse-strings  often  enough  to  please  her. 

During  his  last  years  the  Prince's  political  vagaries 
caused  many  Imperialists  to  forsake  him  and  gather 
round  young  Prince  Victor.  Quite  a  feud  ensued 
between  father  and  son,  and  when  the  former  died 
he  forbade  Prince  Victor's  attendance  at  his  funeral, 
and  disinherited  him  as  far  as  possible,  leaving  all 
his  property  which  did  not  come  under  French  law 
to  his  second  son,  Louis,  afterwards  a  General  of 
Cossacks  in  the  Russian  army.  Further,  either  by 
will  or  by  word  of  mouth,  the  Prince  expressed  a 
desire  to  be  buried,  like  his  father  and  his  famous 
uncle,  at  the  Invalides  f  in  Paris,  or,  if  that  were 
not  possible,  to  be  entombed  on  a  rock  in  the  bay  of 
Ajaccio,  even  as  Chateaubriand  was  buried  on  the 
Grand  Bey  outside  Saint-Malo.  But  neither  of  those 
requests  was  granted.  The  son  of  King  Jerome 
has  his  resting-place  in  Italy. 

An  inadequate  monument  to  Gambetta,  the  work 
of  Aube,  a  Lorrainer  of  Longwy,  had  been  erected 

*  When  I  saw  Cardinal  Bonaparte  in  Rome  in  1878  I  also  noticed  in 
him  a  facial  resemblance  to  Napoleon  I.  He  belonged  to  the  Lucien  line 
of  the  family.  Most  like  the  Emperor,  however,  to  my  thinking,  was  his 
illegitimate  son,  Count  Walewski,  whom  I  saw  two  or  three  times  in  my 
boyhood.  Another  illegitimate  son,  Count  Leon,  also  reminded  one  of 
Napoleon ;  whereas  the  Duke  of  Reichstadt,  judging  by  his  portraits, 
had  no  physical  resemblance  to  his  father. 

f  In  the  year  when  the  Prince  died  the  remains  of  the  Lorrainer 
Lasalle.  one  of  the  greatest  of  Napoleon's  cavalry  generals  (killed  at 
Wagram  in  1809),  were  removed  from  Vienna,  with  the  assent  of  the 
Austrian  government,  to  a  tomb  at  the  Invalides. 


172  PARTS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

on  the  Place  dn  Carrousel  in  1888.  Of  greater  merit 
is  the  statue  of  the  famous  patriot  which  was  in- 
augurated in  '91  at  Les  Jardies,  Ville  d'Avray, 
where  he  died.  The  cost  of  this  statue  was  entirely 
defrayed  by  Alsatians  and  Lorrainers,  grateful  for 
his  efforts  to  preserve  their  land  to  France,  and  it 
was  also  the  work  of  the  great  Alsatian  sculptor, 
Bartholdi,  to  whom  France  owes  the  Lion  of  Belf  ort 
and  New  York  her  Liberty  lighting  the  World.  I  may 
add  here  that  ever  since  Gambetta  passed  away 
it  has  been  the  practice  of  his  surviving  friends  and 
his  admirers  to  repair  to  Les  Jardies  in  pilgrimage 
on  the  anniversary  of  his  death.* 

It  was,  by  the  way,  in  '90  or  '91,  that  a  very 
famous  Paris  cafe,  which  in  its  later  years  was  often 
associated  with  Gambetta's  name,  finally  disappeared. 
This  was  the  Cafe  Procope  situated  in  the  Rue  de 
F Ancienne  Comedie,  whose  name  dated  from  the  time 
when  the  Comedie  FranQaise  was  located  in  the 
Quartier  Latin.  The  street  was  known,  however, 
as  the  Rue  des  Fosses  Saint-Germain  when  in  1689 
the  Cafe  Procope  was  established  there.  It  was  not, 
as  some  writers  have  stated,  the  first  cafe  ever  opened 
in  Paris,  for  some  years  previously  an  Armenian 
called  Pascall  had  set  up  an  establishment  of  this 
description.  His  venture  failed,  although,  in  London, 
coffee-houses  were  already  flourishing ;  but  a  little 
later,  another  Armenian,  known  as  Gregory  of 
Aleppo,  was  more  successful  in  attracting  the 
Parisians,  and  at  last  the  Cafe  Procope  was  founded 

*  I  cannot  resist  the  impulse  to  quote  here  a  few  sentences  from  the 
last  speech  that  Gambetta  ever  made.  It  was  delivered  in  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies  and  referred  to  the  co-operation  of  France  and  Great  Britain  in 
Egypt.  "  Gentlemen,"  said  the  great  tribune,  "  when  I  consider  the 
situation  of  Europe,  I  observe  that  during  the  last  ten  years  there  has 
always  been  a  Western  policy,  represented  by  France  and  England ;  and 
allow  me  to  say  that  I  know  of  no  other  policy  capable  of  proving  of  assistance 
to  us  in  the  most  terrible  emergencies  we  have  to  fear.  I  say  this  with  profound 
conviction,  looking  clearly  into  the  future.  .  .  .  Ah  !  remember  my  words  I 
Make  any  sacrifice  rather  than  forego  the  friendship  and  alliance  of  England  1 " 
(July  19th,  1882). 


IN  THE  NINETIES  173 

by  a  Sicilian  of  that  name,  and  became  in  course  of 
time  one  of  the  chief  centres  of  literary  France- 
associated  with  memories  of  many  celebrities,  such 
as  Diderot,  Piron,  Crebillon,  Marmontel,  Destouches, 
Freron,  and  particularly  Voltaire,  whose  mind  must 
have  harked  back  to  it  during  his  last  illness  when  he 
remarked  that  he  was  "  dying  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  cups  of  coffee,"  which,  assuming  that 
he  began  to  drink  the  beverage  during  his  youth, 
would  have  represented  an  average  of  some  ten  cups 
a  day  during  his  many  years  of  manhood.  He  may 
well  have  exceeded  that  quantity  while  he  was  an 
habitue  of  the  Cafe  Procope,  for  it  is  recorded  that  he 
would  stay  there  talking  and  sipping  coffee  from 
morning  until  midnight.  As  he  died  at  the  ripe  age 
of  84  one  cannot  say  that  his  libations  harmed  him, 
though  the  medical  men  of  1669,  when  the  Parisians 
first  took  to  coffee-drinking  (that  is  some  fifteen 
years  after  the  introduction  of  coffee  into  France), 
roundly  denounced  the  practice  as  a  most  pernicious 
one. 

The  Cafe  Procope  remained  famous  under  many 
regimes.  After  1789  it  became  the  resort  of  numerous 
revolutionary  writers,  and  in  fact  it  was  always 
patronized  by  men  opposed  to  officialdom  of  one  or 
another  kind.  During  the  Second  Empire  embryonic 
revolutionists  in  politics,  literature  and  art  congre- 
gated day  by  day  in  its  famous  first-floor  room, 
where  Gambetta,  then  an  almost  briefless  barrister, 
often  raised  his  powerful  voice.  In  like  way  during 
the  Commune  several  members  of  that  Bolshevik 
Government  made  it  their  rendezvous.  A  body  of 
Bohemian  scribes  clung  to  it  through  its  declining 
fortunes  until  it  was  at  last  closed  and,  finally, 
demolished. 

The  Cafe  de  Buci,  at  no  great  distance  from  the 
Cafe  Procope,  had  its  hours  of  celebrity  in  our  own 
times,  when  it  was  frequented  by  such  men  as 
Gustave  Planche  the  famous  literary  critic,  Theodore 


174  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

de  Banville  the  poet,  Harpignies  the  landscape 
painter,  and  the  ever  refractory  Jules  Valles. 
Hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  of  young  Frenchmen 
who,  during  the  last  forty  years,  have  attained  to 
distinction  in  various  walks  of  life,  must  have  fre- 
quented, in  their  student  days,  one  or  another  of 
such  establishments  as  the  Cafes  Moliere,  Racine, 
Voltaire,  Soufflot  and  Harcourt,  all  within  the  Latin 
Quartier.  Many  a  budding  Polytechnicien  must 
have  played  draughts  at  the  Cafe  Maunoury.  Poets, 
too,  have  sat  in  the  Cafe  d'Orsay  since  the  days  when 
Alfred  de  Musset  there  sought  Nirwana  in  absinthe — 
a  quest  which  a  later  habitue,  Fran§ois  Coppee, 
eschewed,  for  carefully  nursing  the  complaints  which 
so  often  made  his  life  a  misery,  he  refrained  from 
anything  more  potent  than  orgeat. 

The  glory  of  the  Palais  Royal  cafes — Foy,  Re- 
gence,  Valois,  Orleans,  Lemblin,  Montansier,  Co- 
razza — has  long  been  a  memory  only.*  Gone,  too, 
or  strangely  transformed,  or  in  a  state  of  great 
decline,  are  many  of  the  once  famous  cafes  of  the 
boulevards — Maolrid,  Suede,  Mulhouse,  Varietes, 
Panoramas,  and  so  forth.  Frontin's  on  the  Boule- 
vard Poissonniere  leapt  into  sudden  notoriety  during 
the  earlier  years  of  the  present  Republic,  for  it  became 
the  daily  rendezvous  of  Gambetta,  Spuller,  Isembert, 
Naquet,  Challemel-Lacour,  Proust,  Ranc,  Allain- 
Targe,  Dionys  Ordinaire,  Barodet,  etc.,  at  the 
time  when  the  first-named  established  his  famous 
newspaper  '  La  Republique  Frangaise,'  which  had 
its  first  offices  in  the  Rue  du  Croissant.  Those  were 
the  days  when  no  genuine  Republican  entered  the 
Cafe  de  la  Paix,  which  had  become  a  perfect  hornet's 
nest  of  Imperialists — the  Cassagnacs,  father  and 
son  (old  Granier  and  swashbuckling  Paul),  Jolibois, 
Clement  Duvernois,  Janvier  de  la  Motte,  and  the 
Corsican  phalanx  headed  by  Abbattucci,  Galloni 
d'Istria,  and  Pietri,  ex-Prefect  of  Police,  all  men 

*  See  p.  20,  ante. 


IN  THE  NINETIES  175 

who  imagined  it  possible  that  France  could  forget 
the  disaster  of  Sedan  and  the  loss  of  Alsace-Lorraine, 
and  take  back  the  discredited  dynasty  of  the 
Bonapartes. 

For  some  years  after  the  period  of  the  Commune 
the  city's  cafe  life  did  not  differ  much  from  what 
it  had  been  under  the  Empire  ;  but  during  the 
Eighties  various  changes  became  quite  apparent. 
Wine  had  never  been  consumed  in  any  quantity  in 
Paris  cafes  unless  they  were  also  restaurants,  it  being 
unusual  for  the  bourgeoisie  to  drink  wine  between 
their  meals.  At  the  utmost  a  customer  might  call 
for  a  small  glass  of  madere  or  porto.  Beer,  however, 
was  currently  in  request  at  the  cafes,  and  its  con- 
sumption steadily  increased.  This  occurred  not  only 
in  Paris  but  in  many  parts  of  France,  and  was  due  in 
a  considerable  measure,  I  think,  to  the  destruction 
of  vines  by  the  phylloxera,  the  consequent  shortage 
and  inferior  quality  of  wine  during  that  period,  the 
introduction  of  so-called  raisin  wine,  and  the  habit 
which  many  people  then  contracted  of  drinking  beer, 
instead  of  wine,  with  their  meals,  as  well  as  at  the 
cafes  between  meals. 

It  is  true  that  sundry  Austrian  brewers  and, 
perhaps,  also  some  German  ones,  masquerading  as 
Austrians,  began  to  send  beer  to  Paris,  but  the 
imports  of  foreign  beer  were  never  very  large.  The 
highest  figures  that  I  find  in  the  official  statistics  are 
those  of  '81,  '82  and  '83,  when  rather  more  than  nine 
million  gallons  of  beer  were  imported  into  the  country. 
But  at  the  same  time  the  2700  breweries  of  France 
were  producing  as  much  as  187  million  gallons.* 
In  1913-14  the  number  of  breweries  had  increased 
to  about  3400  and  their  output  in  the  former  year 
amounted  in  round  figures  to  282,900,000  gallons. 
The  consumption  was  virtually  the  same  as  the 
production,  and  represented  32*4  litres  per  head  of 

*  At  that  period  about  1,100,000  000  gallons  of  beer  were  being  brewed 
in  Great  Britain. 


176  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

the  population — a  figure  exceeded  in  1911,  when, 
according  to  the  'Annuaire  de  la  France,'  the  con- 
sumption per  head  had  risen  to  36*3  litres.  Beer, 
of  course,  has  always  been  the  ordinary  beverage  of 
Northern  France,  where  there  are  no  vineyards, 
and  this  accounts  for  a  large  part  of  the  consumption. 
As  for  Paris,  I  find  that  in  1912,  the  last  year  for 
which  I  have  the  municipal  figures,  the  consumption 
of  beer  amounted  to  about  18,700,000  gallons  against 
more  than  seven  times  that  quantity  of  wine. 

Now,  during  the  earlier  years  of  the  Republic, 
whilst  the  phylloxera's  ravages  left  so  man}'  vine- 
yards unproductive,  the  French  brewers  strove  to 
effect  improvements  in  their  methods,  and  (following 
German,  Flemish  and  Alsatian  practices)   produced 
at  last  beers   of  the  lager  type,  which  were  greatly 
superior  to  any  others  previously  brewed  in  France. 
Some    breweries    opened    retail    establishments    in 
Paris,  others  financed  persons  in  the  retail  trade, 
and  by  degrees,  often  alongside  the  cafes,  one  saw 
many  so-called  brasseries,    that  is  beer-houses,  not 
breweries,    opened.     There   had   been   a   few   such 
places  previously.     Under  the  Empire  half  a  dozen 
Alsatian  brasseries  were  well  known  to  beer-drinkers, 
and  there  was  the  famous  Brasserie  des  Martyrs, 
that  "halfway  house"  to  Moiitmartre,  which  was 
patronized    by    a    literary    and    artistic    fraternity 
counting  in  its  ranks  such  writers  as  Henri  Murger, 
Privat    d'Anglemont,    Aurelien    Scholl,    and    Jules 
Noriac,    musicians   such   as    Oliver   Metra,    Litolff, 
Markowski,  sculptors  like  Aime  Millet  and  Chris- 
tophe,  and  painters  such  as  Courbet,  Alfred  Stevens, 
Gustave  Boulanger  and  Mariani — all  men  to  whom 
very  late  hours  seemed  to  be  one  of  the  necessities 
of  human  existence. 

Among  the  new  brasseries  which  sprang  up  in 
Paris  under  the  Republican  regime  some  proved 
quite  attractive  by  reason  of  the  novelty  of  their 
appointments.  Instead  of  the  glaring  walls  of 


IN  THE  NINETIES  177 

white  and  gold,  the  huge  mirrors,  the  blazing  chan- 
deliers, the  marble  tables,  the  banquettes  covered 
with  red  plush,  which  you  found  around  you  in 
the  conventional  cafe,  you  were  confronted  by  walls 
panelled  with  brown  oak  (real  or  imitation)  or  hung 
with  more  or  less  imitation  tapestry,  generally  of 
the  verdure  kind — but  occasionally  depicting  hawking 
or  hunting  scenes  in  hues  falsely  suggesting  that 
they  had  faded  in  the  course  of  centuries.  At 
other  times  there  were  stamped  wallpapers  imitating 
cuir  repousse.  Curtains  of  imitation  tapestry  were 
also  to  be  seen,  ceilings  were  beamed  or  panelled, 
coloured  glass,  in  little  panes,  admitted  only  a  sub- 
dued light,  the  tables  and  chairs  were  of  stained 
wood  imitating  the  patterns  of  the  Henri-deux 
and  Louis-treize  periods,  or  else  frankly  following  the 
odious  style  moderne,  and  you  were  evidently  supposed 
to  imagine  yourself  in  an  interieur  flamand,  or  some- 
thing similar,  of  the  long-ago. 

These  resuscitations  of  the  past  attracted  cus- 
tomers, and,  moreover,  a  special  inducement  to  fre- 
quent the  brasseries  was  that  pipe-smoking,  which  was 
then  largely  increasing  in  Paris,  was  allowed  there, 
whereas  only  cigars  and  cigarettes  were  tolerated 
at  first-class  cafes,  except,  it  might  be,  on  the  terrasses, 
that  is,  at  the  little  tables  set  out  in  rows  on  the  foot- 
pavements.  Incongruously  enough,  the  brasseries, 
wherever  possible,  also  had  their  terrasses,  where 
no  pretence  at  old  times  and  customs  was  affected, 
the  chairs  and  the  iron  tables  placed  outside  being 
of  the  customary  cafe  pattern.  In  some  cases  the 
front  of  a  brasserie  was  so  contrived  that  it  could 
be  thrown  wide  open  during  the  summer,  but 
at  other  times,  there  being  no  large  plate-glass 
windows,  like  those  of  the  ordinary  cafes,  you  were 
quite  shut  off  from  the  life  of  the  streets.  In  a  word, 
you  were  screened  from  the  prying  eyes  of  the 
vulgar  just  as  securely  as  if  you  had  found  yourself 
in  the  buen  retiro  of  a  select  London  saloon  bar. 

N 


178  PARTS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

This  circumstance  tended  to  the  rapid  multiplica- 
tion  of  the  so-called  brasseries  de  femmes.     Some 
cafes   had  always   been  notorious  for  the   women 
who    frequented    them,  and  already  early  in    the 
Seventies  there  was  at  least  one  well-known  house 
where  customers  were  served  by  women.     It  was 
situated  on  the  Place  de  la  Republique  (then  called 
Place   du   Chateau   d'Eau),   and,   downstairs,   in   a 
very  spacious  basement,  girls  were  always  in  attend- 
ance.    This  establishment  became  currently  notorious 
by  the  unenviable  name  of  la  vacherie  or  cow-house. 
When,  however,  the  new  brasseries  began  to  spread 
through    Paris    it    was    more    particularly    in    the 
Quartier  Latin  that  the  brasseries  de  femmes  began 
to   flourish.     Their  customers   (largely   but   by   no 
means  entirely  of  the  student  class)  were  plied  with 
drink  by  the  more  or  less  attractive-looking  girls 
who  served  them :    girls  often  of  a  very  uncertain 
age  and  of  no  particular  virtue,  who  endeavoured 
to  enhance  their  charms  by  means  of  "  coquettish  " 
costumes — occasionally  Alsatian  ones  and  at  times 
of  a  somewhat  Eastern  description.     Not  only  was 
it   the  fille  de  brasseries  business  to   make    each 
customer  imbibe  freely,  but,  in  order  to  extract  from 
him  as  much  money  as  possible,  the  terms  of  her 
engagement  required  that  she  should  "invite  her- 
self" to  drink  with  him.     Had  she  drunk  "  fair,"  she 
would  certainly  have  become  intoxicated  long  before 
her  hours  of  duty  were  over,  but  she  made  it  her 
practice  to   imbibe   only    "  mock "    chartreuse,    or 
some  other    supposititious  liqueur,  serving    herself, 
in  fact,  merely  with  petits  verres  of  water,  coloured 
green  or  yellow,  and  sometimes  slightly  sweetened. 
The  girls  were  allowed  to  retain  a  part  of  the  pro- 
ceeds of  this  fraudulent  practice,  but  the  remainder 
went  to    the  "  house."      Even  the  coloured  water 
affected  the  girls'  health.    They  frequently  contracted 
a   disorder  of  the  digestion,  which  became  known 
among  the  Paris  faculty  as  the  maladie  des  inviteuses. 


IN  THE  NINETIES  179 

The  Paris  police  exercises,  or  is  supposed  to 
exercise,  a  supervision  over  all  establishments  where 
drink  is  sold.*  Just  before  the  Great  War  began 
there  were  nearly  30,400  debits  de  boissons  in  the 
city,  and  this  shows  the  task  of  supervision  to  have 
been  no  easy  one.  I  must  also  mention  that  the 
men  of  the  police  des  moeurs,  that  is,  the  plain- 
clothes  officers  appointed  to  watch  over  Parisian 
morals  and  notably  to  keep  unregistered  women  in 
check,  have  often  proved  corrupt.  While  I  was 
connected  with  the  Folies-Bergere  I  became  cognizant 
of  several  cases  of  flagrant  blackmailing  on  the  part 
of  the  plain-clothes  men  who  frequented  the  prome- 
nade. It  often  happened  that  very  great  laxity 
prevailed  in  the  brasseries  de  femmes.  Robberies 
were  committed  there,  and  from  time  to  time  there 
were  scandals  which  could  not  be  ignored.  As, 
however,  the  women  serving  in  these  houses  were 
mostly  registered  at  the  Prefecture  of  Police,  they 
escaped  interference  unless  some  very  gross  breach 
of  decorum  occurred. 

The  Quartier  Latin  was  not  the  only  part  of 
Paris  where  brasseries  at  which  women  served 
became  prominent.  Others  flourished  in  the  Quartier 
Bonne  Nouvelle  and  others  sprang  up  at  Montmartre. 
In  that  neighbourhood — apart  from  the  Brasserie 
des  Martyrs,  of  which  I  have  spoken — one  of  the  most 
noted  "  refreshment "  houses  had  previously  been 
the  Cafe  Pigalle,  on  the  place  of  that  name.  Few 
Parisians,  however,  ever  called  this  house  the  Cafe 
Pigalle,  for  it  was  known  throughout  the  city  as 
the  "  Rat  mort  "  or  "  dead  rat,"  an  uncomplimentary 
name  derived  from  a  remark  which  fell  either  from 
Alfred  Delvau — the  author  of  an  interesting  little 
book  on  the  cafes  and  cabarets  of  Paris — or  from 

*  Subsequent  to  the  brasseries  a  number  of  little  bars  sprang  up  in 
even  some  of  the  best  parts  of  Paris.  Spirits,  notably  absinthe,  were 
largely  consumed  at  these  places.  Previously,  there  had  been  only  a  few 
English  or  American  bars  in  the  city. 


180  PARIS  AND  HER   PEOPLE 

his  friend  Castagnary  during  a  dispute  which  they 
had  together  as  to  the  merits  of  the  house.  One 
of  them  declared  that  he  did  not  like  the  place 
because  its  atmosphere  always  seemed  to  him  to 
suggest  the  smell  of  a  dead  rat.  The  remark  stuck, 
and  was  turned  into  a  nickname.  The  house  was 
frequented  in  its  time  by  all  the  ban  and  arriere-ban 
of  the  literary  and  artistic  colonies  of  Montmartre. 
I  have  chatted  there  with  Catulle  Mendes,  Leon 
Cladel,  Jean  Richepin,  and  Charles  Monselet.  How- 
ever, the  brasseries  invaded  Montmartre,  and  the 
"  Rat  mort "  suddenly  found  itself  surrounded  by 
many  competitors. 

On  a  previous  page  I  have  sketched  the  aspect 
of  one  of  the  better-class  brasseries,  but  I  ought  to 
add  that  there  were  many  inferior  ones,  and  that 
numerous  cafes,  by  way  of  falling  in  with  the  new 
fashion,  began  to  call  themselves  brasseries  without 
even  troubling  to  make  any  change  in  their  personal 
appearance.  Further,  although  the  name  of  bras- 
serie primarily  suggested  beer,  this  was  by  no  means 
the  only  beverage  procurable  at  such  places. 
Coffee,  perhaps,  was  called  for  less  often  than  at  an 
ordinary  cafe,  but  virtually  all  liquid  refreshments 
were  on  sale. 

Another  evolution  was  taking  place  about  the 
same  time.  The  first  Parisian  cafes-concerts  appear 
to  have  been  established  in  or  about  1770.  They 
were  known  as  musicos  during  the  later  years  of 
the  eighteenth  century.*  As  far  back,  moreover, 
as  1729  Crebillon  the  elder,  Piron,  Colle,  and  other 
choice  spirits  founded  a  kind  of  semi-bacchanalian, 

*  I  may  note  en  passant  that  the  cafes-concerts  have  from  time  to  time 
given  artistes  of  ability  to  the  legitimate  stage.  Mme.  Agar  of  the  Comedie 
Fran§aise  began  by  singing  at  the  Concert  du  Cheval  blanc,  behind  the 
Chateau  d'Eau  (Place  de  la  Republique).  Marie  Sass,  who  ultimately 
became  prima  donna  at  the  Opera,  sang  at  the  Cafe-concert  du  Geant  on 
the  Boulevard  du  Temple  before  going  to  the  Theatre  Lyrique.  Judic  and 
Theo,  of  the  Varietes  and  the  Bouffes,  went  thither  from  the  cafe-concert 
stage,  and  Mme.  Beaumaine,  Fusier,  Fugere,  and  others  also  began  their 
careers  in  music-halls. 


IN   THE   NINETIES  181 

semi-poetical  club,  known  as  the  Caveau,  from  a 
basement  or  cellar  in  which  its  members  met.  Their 
customary  pastime,  apart  from  conviviality,  was 
song-singing,  in  which  respect  the  Caveau  resembled 
the  London  "  Blarers "  of  our  own  times.  The 
members  of  the  Caveau  sang,  however,  chiefly  songs 
of  their  own  composition.  They  dispersed  in  1739, 
but  a  score  of  years  later  the  club  was  revived  by 
Crebillon  fls,  Gentil-Bernard,  Pelletier,  Marmontel, 
and  others.  Either  it  survived  the  Revolution  or 
was  reincarnated  subsequently,  for  it  flourished  anew 
in  the  earlier  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when 
it  was  installed  at  the  Palais  Royal,  Desaugiers,  the 
famous  song- writer,  then  being  prominently  con- 
nected with  it.  It  still  existed  during  the  earlier 
years  of  Gustave  Nadaud,  the  writer  and  composer 
of  many  sprightly,  laughable,  and  at  times  senti- 
mental songs — for  instance,  '  Les  deux  Gendarmes,' 
'  Le  Docteur  Gregoire,'  and  '  La  Valse  des  Adieu x ' 
—and  also  of  Pierre  Dupont,  whose  extremely  original 
chants  rustiques,  such  as  '  Les  Bceufs '  and  '  Ma 
Vigne,'  were  works  of  genuine  inspiration.  Dupont 
died  in  1870,  but  Nadaud,  who  was  slightly  his 
senior,  survived  until  1893. 

Now,  while  the  brasseries  were  invading  Mont- 
martre  a  number  of  little  places,  cabarets  or  taverns, 
and  at  the  same  time  partly  concerts  and  partly 
theatres,  also  sprang  up  there.  People  met  at  these 
places  to  play  or  hear  music,  to  recite  or  listen  to 
verses,  and  at  the  outset  these  bouis-bouis  were 
almost  clubs,  to  which  outsiders  only  obtained  ad- 
mittance on  being  introduced  by  an  habitue.  By 
degrees,  however,  several  of  these  establishments 
opened  their  doors  to  the  general  public,  in  such  wise 
that  the  chansons  rosses,  the  satirical  songs  of  Mont- 
martre,  became  known  throughout  Paris.  The 
sardonic  Grand  Guignol  Theatre,  whose  annual 
receipts  amounted  to  some  £15,000  before  the 
Great  War,  originated  in  that  way,  and  many  other 


182  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

establishments  of  pre-war  days,  such  as  La  Boite  a 
Fursy,  La  Pie  qui  Chante,  La  Lune  Rousse,  Le 
Treteau  a  Tabarin,  Chez  Mayol,  Le  Carillon,  La 
Roulette,  Les  QuatVArts,  La  Cigale,  Le  Grelot,  Le 
Pore  qui  Pique,  Les  Noctambules,  etc.,  were  evolved 
from  the  Montmartre  cabarets  and  cdboulots,  or 
suggested  by  their  success. 

One  of  those  cabarets  achieved  a  degree  of  fame. 
Called  the  Chat  Noir  and  founded  by  Rodolphe 
Salis,  it  was  established  at  first  on  the  Boulevard 
Rochechouart,  but  transferred  in  1885  to  the  Rue 
Victor  Masse.  Poets,  artists,  singers,  humorists, 
gathered  within  its  precincts.  Salis  provided  a 
small  stage  on  which  authors  performed  their  own 
pieces  with  the  assistance  of  silhouettes  fashioned 
of  zinc  and  designed  by  Caran  d'Ache,  Willette, 
Pille,  and  others.  Some  of  these  shadow-plays  and 
playlets, '  L'Epopee,' '  La  Tentation  de  Saint  Antoine,' 
'  Saint e  Genevieve,'  c  La  Marche  a  1'Etoile,'  and 
notably  '  L' Enfant  Prodigue,'  became  famous.  All 
kinds  of  subjects  were  treated.  The  genre  macabre 
found  its  place  at  the  Chat  Noir,  and  religious 
mysticism,  Rabelaisian  gauloiserie,  and  the  Napo- 
leonic legend  were  also  laid  under  contribution. 
Further,  songs  were  sung,  verses  read  or  recited, 
and  lightning  cartoons  improvised  by  one  or  another 
of  the  many  men  who  in  divers  ways  contributed 
to  increase  the  establishment's  notoriety.  Among 
them,  besides  the  artists  I  have  mentioned,  were 
Maurice  Donnay,  Jean  Rameau,  Alphonse  Allais, 
Georges  Auriol,  Xanroff,  MacNab,  Ferny,  Delmet, 
Monloya,  Fragerolles,  and  Henri  Riviere.  Some 
of  France's  foremost  literary  men  became  patrons 
of  the  Chat  Noir.  Jules  Lemaitre  was  quite  an 
habitue  of  the  house,  and  the  cosmopolitan  society  of 
Paris  hied  thither  in  all  eagerness,  particularly  to 
hear  the  sarcastic  and  argotique  songs  of  Jules  Jouy, 
of  which,  on  an  average,  it  understood  no  more  than 
a  tenth  part.  The  Chat  Noir  would  not  have  been 


IN  THE  NINETIES  183 

complete  without  its  journal,  a  weekly  publication, 
illustrated  chiefly  by  Willette,  who  also  decorated 
the  house.  But  the  latter's  success  was  too  great 
to  last.  Little  quarrels  arose  between  some  of  those 
who  had  helped  to  make  it  known.  Several  betook 
themselves  elsewhere,  including  some  who  had  merely 
used  it  as  a  stepping-stone  to  higher  and  worthier 
things.  Salis,  the  landlord,  got  into  difficulties  and 
died,  and  in  1897,  after  being  for  several  years  the 
talk  of  Paris,  and  particularly  of  visitors  to  the 
city,  the  establishment  disappeared.  When  its  fix- 
tures and  appurtenances  were  sold  they  fetched, 
I  believe,  only  small  amounts.  Sic  transit. 

Early  in  1891  religiously  minded  Parisians  became 
quite  excited  by  the  news  that  Father  Didon,  after 
years  of  retirement  and  penance,*  was  about  to 
preach  again  at  Notre  Dame.  A  congregation  of 
6000  persons  assembled  to  hear  his  first  sermon 
there.  A  little  later  the  gamblers  of  the  Paris 
clubs  were  thrilled  by  the  news  that  an  Englishman 
had  broken  the  bank  at  Monte  Carlo  by  securing 
the  maximum  at  trente-et-quarante  fourteen  times  in 
succession,  which  must  have  implied,  I  presume, 
winnings  to  the  extent  of  £5920  at  one  sitting,  in 
addition  to  large  gains  on  previous  occasions.  But 
only  too  often  does  "  ce  qui  vient  de  la  flute  s'en 
va  par  le  tambour,"  and  it  was  not  long,  I  believe, 
before  Charles  Wells  lost  every  franc  that  he  had 
won.  And  though  the  London  music-halls  celebrated 
him  for  a  time  as  '  The  Man  who  broke  the  Bank  at 
Monte  Carlo,'  only  two  years  afterwards  he  incurred, 
on  a  criminal  charge,  a  sentence  of  eight  years'  penal 
servitude. 

In  Paris  the  theatrical  scandal  of  1891  was 
provided  by  Sardou's  play,  '  Thermidor,'  which 
provoked  violent  demonstrations  at  the  Comedie 
Frangaise  on  the  part  of  Parisian  Radicals,  because 
it  trounced  the  incorruptible  Robespierre  and  other 

*  See  p.  102,  ante. 


184  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

purveyors  of  the  guillotine.  After  two  performances 
the  Government  intervened  and  prohibited  the  play. 
For  some  time  previously  the  Comedie  had  been 
performing  to  a  steadily  increasing  extent  plays  which 
had  originally  been  produced  at  other  houses,  these 
including  pieces  which  it  had  rejected  or  would  have 
scorned  to  look  at  in  earlier  years.  In  1890,  for 
instance,  it  took  over  Dumas  fits' s  '  Demi-Monde,' 
originally  produced  at  the  Gymnase  in  1855,  and 
performed  it  no  fewer  than  38  times  during  the 
twelvemonth.  Further,  with  Meilhac's  '  Margot,' 
which  was  given  40  times,  it  revived  his  little  one-act 
piece,  '  L'Autographe,'  which  had  been  performed  at 
the  Gymnase  in  1858.  Those  were  the  pieces  whose 
titles  appeared  most  frequently  on  the  Comedie's 
bills  in  the  course  of  1890,  when  it  also  revived 
Becque's  'Parisienne '  (Renaissance,  1885),  perform- 
ing it  on  17  occasions.  The  absolutely  new  pieces 
produced  at  the  Comedie  that  year  were  *  Les  petits 
Oiseaux,'  by  Labiche  and  Delacour,  Henri  Lavedan's 
'  Une  Famille,'  and  Philippe  GiUes's  '  CamiUe.'  The 
first  named  was  given  on  26,  the  second  on  21,  and 
the  third  on  19  occasions. 

In  this  connection  it  is  as  well  to  explain,  perhaps, 
that  there  can  be  no  long  consecutive  run  of  any 
piece  at  the  Comedie  Frangaise.  Its  statutes  bind 
it  to  give  frequent  performances  of  the  classic  and 
modern  repertoire  plays,  and  thus  its  programme 
is  frequently  diversified.  In  '91,  when  it  revived 
Dumas'  '  Visite  de  Noces  '  (Gymnase,  '71),  and 
played  it  on  20  occasions,  its  greatest  success  was 
with  '  Griselidis,'  a  so-called  "  mystery,"  in  three 
acts  and  in  verse,  by  Armand  Silvestre  and  Eugene 
Morand.  Ten  years  later  this  became  a  conte  lyrique, 
with  music  by  the  inexhaustible  Massenet.  At  the 
Comedie  it  secured  as  many  as  51  performances 
during  the  year  of  its  production  there,  whereas  Paul 
Ferrier's  '  L' Article  231  '  was  given  only  25,  and 
Delair's  '  La  Megere  appriyoisee,'  under  which  title 


IN   THE   NINETIES  185 

the   English  reader  may   not  readily   identify   the 
'  Taming  of  the  Shrew,'  on  24  occasions. 

In  1890  the  Grand  Opera  was  successful  with 
Reyer's  '  Salammbo,'  one  of  his  best  compositions, 
based  on  Flaubert's  romance ;  and  about  the  same 
time  the  Opera  Comique  scored  with  Andre  Mes- 
sager's  work,  'La  Basoche.'  This  was  also  the  year 
of  Audran's  sprightly  '  Miss  Helyett.'  In  '91  a 
musical  event  of  interest  was  the  production  at  the 
Opera  Comique  of  Alfred  Bruneau's  '  Le  Reve,' 
founded  on  Zola's  story,  but  with  a  libretto  prepared 
by  Louis  Gallet.  This  work  aroused  lively  anticipa- 
tions among  those  who  counted  themselves  friends  of 
Zola  and  the  composer,  but  although  Mile.  Simonnet 
as  Angelique  and  M.  Engel  as  Felicien  were  all  that 
could  be  desired,  the  reception  accorded  to  Bruneau's 
effort  was  distinctly  inclined  to  frigidity.  There 
may  have  been  some  prejudice  in  the  matter,  for 
Zola  had  many  enemies  who  visited  their  dislike 
of  him  on  his  friends.  The  critics,  however,  appeared 
to  be  somewhat  disconcerted  by  Bruneau's  partition, 
and  for  the  most  part  eluded  any  definite  pro- 
nouncement by  commenting  on  what  they  called  its 
strangeness. 

In  '97  the  same  composer's  '  Messidor,'  with  a 
"  book  "  prepared  this  time  by  Zola  himself,  also  met 
with  a  very  "  standoffish  "  reception.  The  "book" 
was  pronounced  absolutely  trivial,  and  the  music  of 
the  ballet,  a  principal  feature  of  this  so-called  drame 
lyrique,  was  considered  to  be  lamentably  deficient 
in  rhythm  and  movement.  Doubtless  it  was  more 
or  less  of  an  innovatory  character.  I  remember 
Zola  expounding  to  me  one  day  his  views  on  dancing 
(which  I  understood  were  also  Bruneau's),  and 
explaining  that  he  desired  to  bring  about  a  complete 
revolution  in  the  customary  character  of  operatic 
ballets.  Yet  a  third  effort  of  Bruneau's  in  con- 
junction with  the  novelist  (' L'Ouragan,'  four  acts, 
Opera  Comique,  1901)  was  also  regarded  as  a  work 


186  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

which  offered  no  compromise  with  current  musical 
and  scenic  ideas.  In  any  case  it  did  not  secure 
popular  favour.  But  it  often  happens  that  the 
ideas  of  revolutionists  do  not  obtain  acceptance 
until  after  the  lapse  of  many  years.  In  that  con- 
nection one  has  only  to  think  of  Wagner. 

I  have  previously  mentioned  Emile  Perrin's 
directorate  of  the  Comedie  Fran9aise,  where,  on  his 
death  in  '85,  his  place  was  taken  by  Jules  Claretie, 
who  retained  it  until  1913.  At  the  Grand  Opera, 
Halanzier  *  was  replaced  in '79  by  Vaucorbeil,  to  whom 
Ritt  and  Gailhard  succeeded  conjointly  in  1884. 
Ritt  was  an  old  managerial  hand,  and  Pierre  Gail- 
hard — a  native  of  Toulouse,  where  he  was  born  in 
'48 — had  been  for  several  years  the  Opera's  principal 
basse  chantante.  In  '89  Eugene  Bertrand  was  ap- 
pointed director  in  succession  to  Ritt,  and  took 
Campocasso  as  his  coadjutor.  Four  years  later, 
however,  Gailhard  became  associated  with  Bertrand, 
and  on  his  death  succeeded  him  as  sole  director, 
his  appointment  being  confirmed  in  1900.  I  have 
already  given  an  account  of  Carvalho's  first  manage- 
ment of  the  Opera  Comique.f  After  the  fire  there 
(1887)  he  was  succeeded,  at  short  intervals,  by  Jules 
Barbier  and  Paravey,  but  in  '91  he  once  more 
became  manager,  and  retained  the  position  until  his 
death  in  '98,  when  M.  Albert  Carre,  the  librettist, 
replaced  him. 

During  the  Eighties  and  the  Nineties,  as  during 
several  previous  decades,  the  very  profitable  industry 
of  "adapting"  French  plays  for  the  English  stage 
was  practised  largely  in  London.  Turning  to  the 
records  of  merely  one  year — 1891, 1  find  that  London 
houses  were  then  playing  '  Private  Inquiry,'  that 
is,  Valabregue's  '  Securite  des  Families,'  adapted  by 
Burnand ;  4  The  Late  Lamented,'  otherwise  Brisson's 
'Feu  Toupinel,'  adapted  by  F.  Horner ;  'The 
Planter,'  which  was  Maurice  Ordonneau's  piece  of 

*  Seep.  115,  ante.  f  See  p.  116,  ante. 


IN  THE  NINETIES  187 

the  same  name  arranged  by  Yardley ;  '  Gloriana,' 
otherwise  J.  Mortimer's  rendering  of  '  Le  True 
d' Arthur,'  by  Chivot  and  Duru  ;  as  well  as  English 
versions  of  Zola's  '  Assommoir '  ('  Drink,'  by  Warner), 
and  '  Therese  Raquin '  (de  Mattos).  What  struck 
one  more  particularly  in  those  now  distant  years 
was  not  bad  handicraft  on  the  part  of  our  play- 
wrights, but  their  poverty  of  ideas.  It  would  be 
incorrect  to  say  that  there  were  no  able  English  plays 
at  all  at  that  time,  but  they  appeared  like  infrequent 
oases  in  the  midst  of  a  far-stretching  desert,  whereas 
the  successful  adaptations  from  the  French  were 
legion.  I  do  not  know  what  the  company  of  the 
Comedie  Frangaise  thought  on  the  subject  when  it 
came  over  in  '91  and  gave  a  season  at  the  Royalty. 
I  am  only  aware  that  one  of  the  plays  which  it  then 
performed,  Alexandre  Bisson's  '  Les  Surprises  du 
Divorce,'  became  the  original  of  '  Mamma,'  that 
another  by  the  same  author,  '  Le  Depute  de  Bombig- 
nac,'  was  transformed  into  '  The  Candidate,'  and 
a  third,  '  Les  petit s  Oiseaux ' — by  Labiche  and 
Delacour — into  '  A  Pair  of  Spectacles.'  Although 
the  original  plays  were  admirably  acted  by  powerful 
casts  they  attracted  only  small  audiences  to  the 
Royalty.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  London  society 
had  been  forgetting  its  French  for  half  a  century 
or  so,  and  it  needed  the  advent  of  Edward  VII 
and  the  Entente  Cordiale  to  rekindle  a  real  interest 
in  the  language  of  our  next-door  neighbours.  I  do 
not  think  that  the  reception  given  to  Sarah  Bern- 
hardt  and  her  company,  who  were  in  London  about 
this  time,  '90  or  '91 — performing,  among  other 
works,  Barbier's  'Jeanne  d'Arc  ' — was  a  whit  more 
favourable  than  that  accorded  to  the  Comedie. 


IX 

THE  NINETIES — Continued 

The  Anarchist  Outrages — Carnot  assassinated — Another  Financial  Collapse 
— The  Basilica  of  the  Sacred  Heart — A  Centenary  of  the  Republic — 
— Ernest  Renan  and  John  Lemoinne — GreVin  the  Caricaturist — Other 
Deaths  in  '92 — Plays  at  the  Comddie — A  Latin  Quarter  Riot — The 
Rapprochement  with  Russia — MacMahon,  Ferry,  Taine,  Delpit  and 
Uchard — '  My  Uncle  Barbassou  ' — Nadaud,  Malon  and  Charcot — 
Mortality  among  French  Dukes — French  Nobles  on  the  Future  of 
their  Class — More  Comedie  Plays — '  Madame  Sans  Gene  ' — Various 
Operas  and  Plays — Nervous  Tension  in  Paris — The  Panama  Affair — 
A  new  Municipal  Loan — Burdeau,  Mace,  Cain,  and  Leconte  de  Lisle 
— Duruy  and  General  Mellinet — Eugene  Pelletan — Casimir-Perier's 
Resignation — The  Dreyfus  Affair  begins — Felix  Faure  Elected — • 
Napoleon  Ill's  "  Double  " — Edmond  Magnier's  Collapse — Strange 
Fortunes  in  Journalism — Coquelin  and  the  Comedie — Plays  in  '95 — 
Death  of  Dumas  fils — Droz  and  '  Monsieur,  Madame  et  Bebe  '— 
Doucet  and  the  Academy's  Secretariate — Barthel6my  Saint -Hilaire, 
Murat,  Metternich,  Larrey  and  Pasteur. 

THE  year  1892  was  one  of  very  considerable  agitation 
and  turmoil  in  Paris.  The  Boulangist  danger  was 
past,  the  General  himself  had  committed  suicide,* 
but  the  Panama  scandal  still  engaged  much  attention, 
and  serious  Anarchist  outrages  now  began,  f  In 
February  there  was  a  dynamite  explosion  at  the 
Princess  de  Sagan's  house,  which  was  mistaken,  it 
was  said,  for  the  Spanish  embassy.  In  March 
came,  first,  an  attempt  to  blow  up  a  flat  occupied  by 
M.  Benoit,  an  Assize  Court  judge,  followed  by  an 
explosion  at  the  Lobau  barracks  and  a  little  later 
by  an  attempt  to  destroy  the  residence  of  M.  Bulot, 
the  Public  Prosecutor,  half  a  dozen  persons  being 
injured  on  this  last  occasion  when  the  destruction 

*  See  p.  151,  ante. 

t  For  a  detailed  account  of  these  affairs,  see  my  book,  '  The  Anarchists, 
their  Creed  and  their  Record,'  and  for  a  briefer  one,  my  '  Republican 
France,  1870-1912.' 

188 


IN  THE  NINETIES  189 

to  property  represented  fully  £6000.  The  author 
of  this  outrage  and  of  the  attempt  on  M.  Benoit's 
flat,  a  man  of  German  extraction  named  Kcenig- 
stein,  but  known  as  Ravachol  (his  mother's  maiden 
name),  was  arrested,  convicted — not  only  of  the 
aforementioned  outrages,  but  also  of  murders  pre- 
viously perpetrated  in  the  provinces — and  sent  to 
the  guillotine  (Montbrison,  July  10th,  1892).  But 
he  had  already  found  an  "  avenger  "  in  an  Anarchist 
named  Meunier,  who  promptly  blew  up  the  Cafe 
Very  on  the  Boulevard  Magenta,  a  waiter  of  which 
establishment  had  denounced  Ravachol  to  the 
police.  The  landlord  of  the  house  was  killed  by 
the  explosion  as  was  also  one  of  his  customers,  whilst 
several  other  persons  were  injured. 

Some  months  of  quietude  ensued,  but  during 
November  an  infernal  machine,  intended  to  destroy 
the  offices  of  the  Carmaux  Mining  Company  in  the 
Avenue  de  1' Opera,  exploded  at  a  police  office  to  which 
it  had  been  removed,  and  killed  no  fewer  than  six 
officials.  In  the  following  year,  November,  '93,  a 
young  Anarchist  named  Leauthier  attempted  the 
life  of  the  Serbian  Minister  at  a  Bouillon  Duval  in 
the  Avenue  de  1' Opera,  and  a  month  later  another 
Anarchist  named  Vaillant  flung  a  bomb  into  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  from  one  of  the  public  galleries 
there.  Forty  people  were  injured  on  this  occasion, 
but  in  most  cases  very  slightly.  The  famous  advo- 
cate, Maitre  Labori,  who  pleaded  for  Vaillant  at  his 
trial,  declared  that  he  was  less  an  Anarchist  than  an 
exaspere  de  la  miser e,  one  whose  whole  life  had  been 
bitter  poverty,  virtually  destitution.  This  was  true. 
Vaillant's  mind  had  been  affected,  one  might  even 
say,  unhinged,  by  his  bitter  sufferings.  Neverthe- 
less, he  was  guillotined  on  February  7th,  1894.  Five 
days  later  there  came  a  terrible  explosion  at  the  Cafe 
Terminus  in  the  Rue  Saint-Lazare,  one  customer 
being  killed  and  a  score  of  others  injured,  some  very 
severely.  In  March  an  explosion  occurred  in  the 


190  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Rue  Saint- Jacques,  three  persons  being  wounded,  one 
of  them  mortally.  Another  bomb,  left  in  the  Fau- 
bourg Saint-Martin,  did  no  harm,  but  on  March  15th 
yet  another  one  exploded  in  the  pocket  of  a  man 
named  Jean  Pauwels  at  the  moment  when  he  was 
taking  it  into  the  Madeleine  church.  During  April 
there  was  also  an  attempt  on  the  Cafe  Foyot  in  the 
Quartier  Latin,  when  M.  Laurent  Tailhade,  a  literary 
man,  was  injured.  The  perpetrator  of  the  outrage 
at  the  Cafe  Terminus,  a  young  Anarchist  named 
Emile  Henry,  had  been  arrested  whilst  attempting 
to  escape.  He  freely  declared  that  it  was  also  he 
who  made  the  infernal  machine  which  had  been 
intended  for  the  offices  of  the  Carmaux  Mining 
Company,  and  had  caused  the  death  of  six  police 
officials.  He  displayed  the  greatest  cynicism  at 
his  trial,  but  on  being  led  to  execution  on  the  morning 
of  May  21st,  his  courage  forsook  him,  and  he  was 
with  difficulty  got  to  the  guillotine. 

The  Government  clung  to  the  mistaken  idea  that 
there  was  a  gigantic  conspiracy  afoot,  never  realizing 
that  the  many  crimes  which  had  occurred  were  the 
work  of  more  or  less  isolated  individuals  inspired 
chiefly  by  the  force  of  example.  But  there  was  yet 
more  to  come.  On  the  evening  of  June  25th  Presi- 
dent Carnot  was  assassinated  at  Lyons,  whither  he 
had  repaired  to  inaugurate  a  Colonial  Exhibition. 
He  was  stabbed  with  deadly  effect  by  a  young  Lom- 
bardian  Anarchist  named  Santo-Geronimo  Caserio, 
who  after  trial  and  conviction  was  executed  on  the 
ensuing  16th  of  August.  Carnot's  remains  were 
brought  back  to  Paris,  conveyed  to  the  Pantheon 
with  much  pomp  and  ceremony,  and  laid  to  rest 
there,  beside  those  of  his  illustrious  grandfather, 
the  Organizer  of  Victory  in  the  days  of  the  First 
Republic.  A  period  of  stern  repression  followed. 
The  so-called  lois  ^exception  were  voted  by  the 
Legislature,  there  were  perquisitions,  arrests,  prose- 
cutions innumerable,  particularly  in  Paris,  which 


IN  THE  NINETIES  191 

remained  in  a  very  restless  state.  But  Anarchism 
had  virtually  spent  its  force,  and  though  a  few  more 
outrages  and  attempts  occurred  a  little  later,  notably 
on  Baron  Alphonse  de  Rothschild  and  his  establish- 
ment in  the  Rue  Lafite,  it  is  a  question  whether, 
instead  of  being  due  to  Anarchists,  these  were  not 
really  inspired  by  the  simmering  Anti-Semitism 
which  before  long  led  to  that  painful,  that  lament- 
able Affaire  Dreyfus,  which  at  times  threw  Paris 
into  positive  convulsions,  and  was  used  so  shame- 
lessly by  the  Royalist  party  as  a  lever  by  which  it 
hoped  to  overturn  the  Republican  regime. 

I  have  endeavoured  to  clear  the  ground  by  giving 
a  brief  but  continuous  summary  of  the  Anarchist 
Terror  from  1892  to  '94,  and,  that  done,  I  must 
now  revert  to  the  former  year  and  mention  some 
other  matters.  In  the  course  of  '92  the  worries 
of  the  Parisians  were  increased  by  yet  another 
financial  failure,  that  of  the  so-called  Banque  des 
Chemins-de-Fer,  which  collapsed  with  liabilities  of 
nearly  a  million  sterling.  Its  manager  committed 
suicide.  On  May  Day  the  Anarchist  trouble  led  to 
great  military  precautions.  One  might  have  thought 
Paris  in  a  state  of  siege,  for  soldiers  were  seen  every- 
where, fully  100,000  of  them  being  under  arms.  But 
nothing  serious  occurred. 

In  July  cholera  made  its  appearance  in  the  en- 
virons, and  before  long  a  couple  of  hundred  deaths 
from  the  epidemic  were  recorded.  The  National 
Fete  was  therefore  a  somewhat  quiet  one.  A  good 
deal  of  unnecessary  fuss  was  made,  however,  over  the 
illumination  on  this  occasion  of  the  basilica  of  the 
Sacre  Cceur  at  Montmartre,  though  this  illumination 
ought  rather  to  have  been  taken  as  implying  the 
clergy's  willingness  to  follow  the  counsels  of  Pope 
Leo  XIII  by  adhering  to  the  Republic.  It  happened, 
however,  that  Parisian  freethinkers  deeply  resented 
the  presence  of  the  basilica  in  a  position  which 
certainly  dominated  the  entire  city,  and  served  as  a 


192  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

constant  reminder  of  the  Faith.  Designed  by  the 
architect  Paul  Abadie,  who  did  not  live  to  see  it 
completed,  for  he  died  in  1885,  the  Sacre  Coeur 
originated  in  a  resolve  at  which  the  clergy  arrived 
soon  after  the  Franco-German  War,  to  dedicate 
France  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus — a  cult  derived 
from  the  visions  of  the  seventeenth-century  mystic, 
Marie  Alacoque,  a  nun  of  the  order  of  the  Visitation, 
established  by  St.  Frangois  de  Sales.  To  provide 
for  the  building  of  the  basilica,  subscriptions  were 
invited  from  the  faithful  throughout  France,  and  in 
1875,  after  the  site  at  Montmartre  had  been  pur- 
chased and  vested  in  the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  the 
erection  of  the  edifice  was  begun. 

On  September  22nd,  1892,  the  Parisians  cele- 
brated what  was  called  the  centenary  of  the  Republic, 
but  although  the  First  Republic  was  proclaimed 
by  the  National  Convention  on  September  22nd, 
1792,  it  ceased  to  exist,  even  in  name,  on  May  28th, 
1804.  The  Second  Republic,  established  in  '48,  was 
destroyed  before  it  had  completed  its  fourth  year, 
and  in  the  course  of  a  century  there  had  been 
less  than  forty  years  of  Republican  rule  in  France. 
Paris,  however,  cared  nothing  for  that  circum- 
stance, but  hung  out  her  flags  and  illuminated  her 
house-fronts  as  if  the  Republic  had  existed — other- 
wise than  in  her  heart — ever  since  its  establishment 
by  the  National  Convention. 

In  the  course  of  1892  death  again  levied  toll  on 
a  number  of  notable  men.  The  most  famous  among 
them,  Ernest  Renan,  was  little  known  personally 
to  the  Parisians,  for  all  his  later  years  were  spent  in 
Brittany.  On  the  other  hand,  John  Lemoinne,  the 
editor  of  the  '  Journal  des  Debats,'  had  long  been  a 
Parisian  celebrity.  In  spite  of  the  English  blood 
in  his  veins,  and  although  he  was  so  often  quoted 
with  approval  by  the  English  Press,  Lemoinne  was  no 
lover  of  our  country.  He  had  risen  to  prominence 
as  a  journalist  during  the  reign  of  Louis-Philippe, 


IN  THE  NINETIES  193 

and  seemed  never  to  have  forgotten  the  bicker- 
ings of  France  and  Great  Britain  over  Mehemet 
Ali,  the  Spanish  marriages,  the  Due  de  Nemours' 
candidature  to  the  Belgian  throne,  and  other  matters, 
which-  men  moving  with  their  times  had  long  since 
relegated  to  the  dead  past.  Nevertheless,  on 
matters  of  French  home  policy  Lemoinne  always 
exercised  considerable  influence  as  an  exponent  of 
moderate  ideas  and  counted  many  readers  in  official 
spheres  and  among  the  haute  bourgeoisie  of  Paris. 
Thanks  to  Orleanist  influence,  he  had  been  a  member 
of  the  French  Academy  since  1875. 

Although  Alfred  Grevin,  the  caricaturist,  who  also 
died  in  1892,  was  a  native  of  lower  Burgundy,  he 
proved  himself  during  many  years  to  be  one  of  the 
most  Parisian  of  Parisians.  He  lacked  the  un- 
disputable  genius  of  Gavarni,  he  was  not  as  deep, 
as  subtle,  as  Daumier,  or  as  frankly  amusing  as  Cham, 
but  in  his  particular  line — which  was  to  caricature 
the  demi-monde  of  his  own  period — he  remained 
unsurpassed.  All  classes  of  society  came  within 
Gavarni's  orbit.  Grevin  was  content  to  be  his 
successor  in  one  respect  only.  He  limned  all  the 
evolutions  of  his  predecessor's  lorette  and  her  sur- 
roundings. He  showed  us  in  the  innumerable 
drawings  which  appeared  week  after  week  in  the 
4  Journal  Amusant '  and  '  Le  petit  Journal  pour  Rire  ' 
(the  latter  coloured  with  flat  tints),  the  cocotte,  the 
cocodette,  the  horizontale,  the  petite  dame,  and  gave 
occasional  glimpses  of  all  that  survived  of  the 
grisette  of  the  Quartier  Latin,  of  the  midinette  of  his 
time,  and  of  the  crapulous  "  Alphonses  "  and  their 
;<  white  slaves  "  of  the  outer  boulevards.  I  knew 
Grevin  fairly  well.  I  visited  him  several  times  at 
his  little  house  at  Saint-Mande  in  the  eastern  suburbs 
of  Paris',  and  generally  found  him  in  his  garden  with 
his  shirt  sleeves  rolled  up  and  a  short  pipe  between 
his  teeth.  Somewhat  inclined  to  be  portly,  he  had 
much  the  appearance  of  a  retired  inspector  of  police. 

o 


194  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

But  although  his  chief  delight  was  among  his  lettuces 
and  cabbages,  he  came  into  Paris  two  or  three  times 
a  week,  and  all  his  keen  powers  of  observation  were 
then  brought  into  play.  He  had,  moreover,  a  vivid 
fancy,  and  over  and  over  again  designed  the  costumes 
for  some  comic  opera,  ballet,  or  other  spectacular 
theatrical  venture — costumes  of  remarkable  origin- 
ality and  effectiveness,  which  often  set  all  Paris 
talking.  His  earlier  drawings  for  the  illustrated 
comic  and  satirical  journals  were  elaborately  shaded 
with  an  infinity  of  fine  cross-lines,  but  during 
the  earlier  years  of  the  Republic  he  cast  that  method 
aside,  in  part  because  it  involved  a  great  deal  of 
labour,  and  contented  himself  with  outlining  his 
figures,  as  Phil  May  did  at  a  later  period.  Grevin's 
women  were  inimitable — with  a  few  lines  he  could 
suggest  all  le  chic  parisien,  but  he  could  never  draw 
a  man.  He  seemed  to  be  ignorant  of  the  anatomy 
of  the  mere  male,  and  his  men  often  gave  one  the 
vague  impression  of  women  in  masculine  habiliments. 
One  of  the  ventures  of  his  later  years  was  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Musee  Grevin,  which  was  originally  in- 
tended to  be  a  Parisian  Madame  Tussaud's. 

Among  other  notabilities  who  died  in  1892  I 
may  mention  Anatole  de  la  Forge,  who  defended 
Saint-Quentin  against  the  Germans  in  1870-71, 
and  in  his  later  years  became  a  familiar  figure  on 
the  boulevards.  Another  old  Parisian  who  departed 
at  this  time  was  the  Dutch  Count  de  Nieuwerkerke, 
superintendent  of  Fine  Arts  during  the  Second 
Empire  and  morganatic  husband  of  the  Princess 
Mathilde  Bonaparte.  She  was  72  years  old  when 
Nieuwerkerke  died  at  the  age  of  81  ;  nevertheless 
she  afterwards  lived  maritalement  with — and  perhaps 
even  married — Claudius  Popelin,  the  peintre-emailleur 
who  died  in  the  same  year.  Music  lost  two  composers 
about  this  time — Edouard  Lalo  and  Ernest  Guiraud  ; 
and  Henriquel-Dupont,  the  engraver,  .died  almost 
forgotten  at  the  great  age  of  95. 


IN  THE  NINETIES  195 

The  principal  "  novelty  "  at  the  Comedie  Fran- 
gaise  that  year  was  c  Par  le  Glaive,'  a  five-act  drama 
in  verse  by  Jean  Kichepin,  who  by  this  work  seemed 
to  make  a  bid  for  the  leadership  of  a  school  which 
most  people  regarded  as  moribund — briefly,  that  of 
Romanticism.  In  '  Par  le  Glaive,'  moreover,  the 
author  executed  a  remarkable  evolution.  The  sordid 
horror  of  '  La  Glu,'  the  audacious  realism  of  the 
'  Chanson  des  Gueux,'  were  left  far  behind,  and 
he  treated  his  subject,  an  episode  in  the  history  of 
Ravenna,  in  a  most  powerful,  dramatic,  and 
emotional  manner.  Before  the  year  was  out  the 
Comedie  had  played  '  Par  le  Glaive '  no  fewer  than 
68  times.  Pailleron's  '  Monde  ou  Ton  s'amuse ' 
proved  far  less  successful  than  his  '  Monde  ou  Ton 
s'ennuie.'  *  For  the  rest,  the  Comedie  ventured  on 
some  more  revivals.  It  gave  forty  performances  of 
the  familiar  Gymnase  play,  '  Frou-Frou,'  and  twenty 
of  Erckmann-Chatrian's  almost  forgotten  piece, 
'  Le  Juif  Polonais,'  which,  when  it  was  first  produced 
in  1869,  had  to  be  content  with  so  humble  a  home 
as  the  little  Theatre  Cluny  in  the  Quartier  Latin. 
Five  years  later,  however,  it  became  known  in 
England  as  '  The  Bells,'  and  will  always  be  associ- 
ated by  us  with  the  memory  of  Henry  Irving.  Its 
revival  at  the  Comedie  Frangaise  drew  a  good  deal  of 
attention  to  the  play.  To  this  circumstance  indeed 
may  be  attributed  the  conte  lyrique,  with  music  by 
Erlanger,  produced  in  Paris  in  1900. 

Anarchist  outrages  and  the  Panama  scandal 
were  still  with  us  during  1893  when  almost  any  other 
occurrences  were  regarded  as  welcome  diversions. 
Such  was  not  the  case,  however,  in  regard  to  the 
riots  which  broke  out  in  the  Quartier  Latin  during 
July.  Senator  Berenger,  who  made  it  his  particular 
business  to  watch  over  the  morals  of  Paris,  had  been 
thundering  against  the  indecent  dancing  in  public 
ball-rooms,  and  the  police  at  last  took  action  by 

*  See  p.  136,  ante. 


196  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

interfering  with  the  annual  QuatV  Arts  ball  patronized 
by  young  artists,  writers  and  students.  These  rose 
up  in  indignation,  were  joined  by  many  young  work- 
men, and,  after  clamouring  for  the  release  of  their 
friends,  began  rioting  in  earnest,  newspaper  kiosks 
being  thrown  down  and  omnibuses  overturned 
for  the  purpose  of  improvising  barricades.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  police  lost  their  heads,  and  behaved 
with  extraordinary  violence,  attacking  virtually 
everybody  whom  they  saw  in  the  streets.  In 
addition  to  the  arrest  of  a  couple  of  hundred 
young  rioters,  injuries  were  incurred  by  many 
perfectly  innocent  people,  and  a  missile  of  some 
kind  struck  and  killed  a  student  named  Nuger  who 
was  standing  outside  the  Cafe  d'Harcourt.  The 
outcome  was  the  dismissal  of  Loze,  the  Police 
Prefect,  and  the  appointment  of  the  famous  Lepine 
in  his  stead. 

Paris  may  be  said  to  have  lived  that  year  in  a 
continuous  whirl  of  excitement.  In  August  there 
came  General  Elections  which  greatly  strengthened 
the  Republican  parties  in  the  Chamber.  Later,  the 
Russian  admiral  Avellan  and  many  of  his  officers 
and  seamen  came  to  Paris  from  Toulon — a  squadron 
of  the  Czar's  fleet  then  returning  the  French  visit 
to  Cronstadt  in  1891 — and  were  handsomely  enter- 
tained by  the  authorities.  France  and  Russia  were 
now  gradually  drawing  more  and  more  closely 
together,  and  although  one  could  hardly  blame 
French  Socialists  for  looking  askance  at  an  alliance 
between  the  Republic  and  the  Russian  Autocracy, 
yet,  with  the  German  menace  ever  hanging  over 
France,  it  was  only  natural  that  Frenchmen  generally 
should  welcome  the  prospect  of  support  from  any 
quarter  whatever. 

Amidst  the  festivities  attending  the  Russian  visit 
news  arrived  of  the  death  of  Marshal  MacMahon  at 
his  chateau  in  the  provinces.  A  state  funeral  was 
decreed,  and  the  remains  of  the  gallant  old  soldier 


IN  THE  NINETIES  197 

were  brought  to  Paris  and  deposited  with  much 
pomp  and  ceremony  in  the  Invalides.  Gounod, 
the  famous  composer,  passed  away  on  the  day 
following  the  death  of  MacMahon,  and  he  also  was 
fittingly  laid  to  rest  at  the  expense  of  the  State. 
Early  in  the  spring  that  able  statesman,  Jules 
Ferry,  had  joined  the  majority,  surviving  a  tardy 
recognition— -his  election  to  the  presidency  of  the 
Senate — by  only  a  few  weeks  ;  and  about  the  same 
time  France  lost  the  great  critic  and  historical 
writer,  Hippolyte  Taine.  His  views  have  not  always 
been  endorsed  by  a  later  generation ;  he  had  his 
prejudices  undoubtedly,  but  he  was  very  liberal- 
minded  in  the  recognition  of  merit,  and  after  becoming 
an  Academician  in  1878,  he  helped  several  other 
men  to  attain  to  that  position.  He  was  already 
ailing,  however,  when  Zola  again  came  forward  as 
a  candidate  in  February,  '93,  and  scored  yet  another 
failure — polling  only  four  votes  and  being  defeated 
both  by  Thureau-Dangin  and  Henri  de  Bornier. 
Besides  Taine,  literature  also  lost  in  '93  two  clever 
novelists,  Albert  Delpit  and  Mario  Uchard.  I 
introduced  the  latter 's  highly  amusing  '  Uncle  Bar- 
bassou  '  to  English  readers  in  a  finely  illustrated 
edition  many  years  ago.  Of  higher  literary  rank 
than  either  of  the  foregoing  was  Guy  de  Maupassant, 
who,  judging  by  the  fate  of  his  father  and  his  brother, 
was  unhappily  predisposed  to  insanity,  which  was 
accelerated,  in  his  case,  by  the  abuse  of  drugs  and 
women,  and  which  after  at  first  assuming  the  form  of 
lafolie  des  grandeurs,  developed  into  suicidal  mania. 
He  was  saved  from  self-destruction,  but  was  still 
bereft  of  reason  when  he  died  in  July,  '93. 

Others  who  passed  away  during  the  year  were 
Gustave  Nadaud,  the  tuneful  composer  and  song- 
writer,* Benoit  Malon,  the  Socialist  leader  and 
historian  of  Socialism,  and  Professor  Charcot,  the 
great  authority  on  nervous  disorders  and  a  leading 

*  See  p.  181,  ante. 


198  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

exponent  of  hypnotism.  At  the  same  time  mortality 
set  in  among  the  dukes  of  the  Faubourg  Saint-Germain. 
The  Duke  de  Mortemart,  of  the  historic  house  which 
unhappily  gave  France  the  very  undesirable  Mme. 
de  Montespan,  passed  away,  aged  89  years.  He  had 
long  been  president  of  that  exclusive  Parisian  club, 
the  Cercle  Agricole,  whose  members  were  irreverently 
styled  les  pommes  de  terre  by  envious  outsiders. 
M.  de  Mortemart  was  followed  to  the  grave  by  the 
Duke  de  Rohan,  aged  73,  and  a  little  later  there  came 
news  that  the  young  Duke  d'Uzes  had  died  in 
Equatorial  Africa.  His  widowed  mother — a  fervent 
Royalist  who  supplied  a  good  deal  of  the  money  for 
the  Boulangist  agitation — long  remained  a  very 
prominent  figure  in  Parisian  society. 

Several  years  ago  I  inquired  of  the  successor  of 
the  Duke  de  Rohan  whom  I  have  just  mentioned, 
what  views  he  held  of  the  position  and  prospects 
of  the  French  aristocracy  under  the  Republic.  He 
answered  briefly :  "  There  is  no  real  aristocracy 
left  in  France — money  has  killed  it."  Such  being 
the  opinion  of  one  of  the  comparatively  few  re- 
maining representatives  of  the  authentic  old  noblesse, 
it  seemed  interesting  to  ascertain  whether  it  was 
shared  by  what  one  may  call  the  new  noblesse  ;  and 
with  that  object  the  late  Duke  Decazes — a  close  friend 
of  the  present  Duke  d' Orleans — was  consulted,  his 
title  dating  only  from  the  reign  of  Louis  XVIII. 
He  replied  that  the  authentic  nobility  was  fast 
dwindling  in  numbers,  and  seemed  likely  to  die  out, 
leaving  behind  it  only  titles  of  doubtful  authenticity 
or  of  foreign  origin.  Nevertheless,  said  he,  it  was 
the  duty  of  those  real  nobles  who  remained  to 
continue  serving  France  to  the  best  of  their  ability, 
without,  however,  forgetting  the  lofty  traditions 
and  principles  to  which  their  ancestors  had  owed 
their  rank  and  the  country  its  greatness.  When 
Count  d'Haussonville  of  the  French  Academy— the 
representative  also  of  one  of  the  oldest  houses  of 


IN  THE  NINETIES  199 

Lorraine — was  appealed  to  on  the  subject,  he  answered 
that  the  chief  duty  and  privilege  remaining  to  the 
French  nobility  was  to  set  a  good  example  in  all 
things  and  under  all  circumstances.  Further,  Prince 
Aymon  de  Lucinge  (of  an  ancient  house  long  con- 
nected with  Savoy)  made  answer :  "  The  French 
aristocracy  .is  virtually  dead.  An  aristocracy  should 
be  the  elite  of  a  nation  in  the  broadest  and  most 
liberal  sense  of  that  word.  It  is  therefore  requisite 
that  it  should  be  constantly  reinforced  by  men  who 
have  rendered  valuable  services  to  their  country— 
as  is  the  case  in  England.  In  this  way  an  aristocracy 
retains  strength  and  progresses  with  the  times. 
But  this  is  only  possible  in  a  monarchy.  If  a 
sovereign  were  to  be  at  the  head  of  France,  the 
French  aristocracy  might  spring  up  again  from  its 
ashes,  but  as  there  is  no  sovereign  it  may  be  regarded 
as  virtually  dead." 

To  those  remarks  I  will  only  add  that  the  remain- 
ing members  of  the  French  nobility,  old  and  new, 
most  worthily  upheld  the  saying  noblesse  oblige 
during  the  recent  Great  War.  As  a  daily  reader 
of  the  French  press,  I  was  then  struck  by  the 
frequent  mentions  of  members  of  titled  families 
who  had  made  the  supreme  sacrifice  from  1914 
onward.  One  constantly  read,  too,  of  one  and 
another  being  severely  wounded,  and  of  others  win- 
ning decorations  for  valour.  Briefly,  if  the  British 
peerage  did  its  duty  on  the  battlefield  (which 
none  can  question)  the  same  may  be  said  of  the 
titled  classes  of  France.  Several  authentic  old 
houses  became  extinct  during  the  war.  As  for  the 
women  of  title  who  worked  in  an  infinity  of  ways, 
their  name  also  was  legion. 

During  1893  the  Comedie  Frangaise  again  came 
to  London  and  gave  a  season  at  Drury  Lane.  In 
Paris  its  principal  nouveaute  that  year  was  Parodi's 
indifferent  play,  '  La  Heine  Juana,'  which  was  per- 
formed 28  times.  D'Hervilly's  '  Belle  Sainara ' 


200  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

was  staged  on  only  five  occasions,  but  '  Le  Pere 
Prodigue '  was  billed  on  42.  The  chief  revival, 
a  fairly  successful  one,  was  that  of  'Antigone'  by 
Paul  Meurice  and  Auguste  Vacquerie,  which  had 
been  first  performed  at  the  Odeon  as  far  back  as 
1844.  The  most  popular  piece  in  Paris  that  year 
was,  however,  without  doubt  Sardou's  '  Madame 
Sans- Gene,'  that  amusing  libel  on  the  wife  of  Marshal 
Lefebvre — who,  by  the  way,  was  never  known  to 
her  contemporaries  as  Madame  Sans-Gene,  that 
nickname  being  bestowed  on  a  female  volunteer  in 
Napoleon's  armies,  of  whom  a  full  biography,  to 
be  taken  probably  cum  grano  satis,  has  been  pub- 
lished.* Mme.  Rejane,  who  played  the  title  role 
with  great  gusto  at  the  Paris  Vaudeville,  brought 
the  play  to  the  London  Gaiety  in  June,  '94,  and  gave 
further  performances  of  it  at  the  Garrick  in  '95. 
Comyns  Carr  afterwards  made  an  English  adapta- 
tion, which  was  produced  at  the  Lyceum  in  '97,  and 
revived  in  1901.  Two  years  later  the  piece  became  a 
"romantic  opera,"  entitled  the  '  Duchess  of  Dantzic,' 
and  was  performed  at  the  Lyric  Theatre,  with  a 
"book"  by  Henry  Hamilton  and  music  by  Yvan 
Caryll.  In  this  musical  form  the  piece  has  been 
"toured"  all  over  Great  Britain  and,  I  believe,  in 
America  also.  Reverting  to  Paris  and  '93,  I  find 
that  this  year  (with  which  may  be  associated  Verdi's 
'  Falstaff '  and  Mascagni's  '  Ami  Fritz ')  was  also  that 
of  the  charming  opera-comique,  '  Phryne,'  the  work 
of  Camille  Sainf-Saens. 

In  '94  came  Massenet's  two-act  episode,  '  La 
Navarraise,'  with  a  libretto  by  Claretie  and  Cain, 
and  more  particularly  the  same  composer's  graceful 

*  Named  Marie-Therese  Figueur,  she  was  a  Burgundian,  born  at 
Talmay,  Cote-d'Or,  in  1774.  She  ultimately  married  a  military  man 
named  Sutter,  and  died  in  1861.  She  was  present  at  Austerlitz  and  other 
famous  battles,  and  became  a  viwndi&re  or  sutler-woman.  Marbot 
mentions  her  in  his  memoirs.  Of  her  own  memoirs,  "  taken  down  at  her 
dictation  by  Saint-Germain  Le  Due,"  the  latest  edition  was  edited  by  E. 
Cere,  and  published  in  1894. 


IN  THE  NINETIES  201 

and  warmly  coloured  drame  lyrique,  '  Thai's,'  based 
on  Anatole  France's  story  of  the  same  name.  I  did 
not  hear  it  until  1912,  when  it  was  revived  at  the 
Grand  Opera,  with  two  fine  vocalists,  Mary  Garden 
and  Maurice  Renaud,  in  the  chief  parts.  Each  per- 
formance then  became  a  triumph.  At  the  Comedie 
Frangaise,  '94  was  essentially  the  year  of  Pailleron's 
comedy,  '  Les  Cabotins,'  *  which,  assisted  by  a 
succes  de  scandale,  secured  102  performances  during 
the  twelvemonth.  There  was  also  Rostand's  fairly 
successful  and  amusing  piece,  '  Les  Romanesques,' 
together  with  revivals  of  Coppee's  '  Severe  Torelli,' 
originally  given  at  the  Odeon  in  '83,  and  of 
Catulle  Mendes'  'Femme  de  Tabarin,'  which  last 
came  to  the  Comedie  from  Antoine's  Theatre 
Libre.  Armand  Silvestre's  play,  '  Izeyl,'  produced 
at  the  Renaissance  early  in  the  year,  proved  to  be 
a  work  of  very  unequal  merit,  and  even  the  genius 
of  Sarah  Bernhardt  failed  to  make  it  a  success. 
It  was  not  given,  I  think,  during  her  London  season 
in  '94,  when  she  relied  chiefly  on  '  La  Tosca,'  '  La 
Dame  aux  Camelias,'  and  '  Phedre.' 

The  Parisians  remained  very  restless  and  gloomy 
throughout  the  year.  It  began  with  the  trial  and 
execution  of  Vaillant  for  throwing  a  bomb  at  the 
deputies  in  the  Palais  Bourbon  one  day  in  December, 
'93.  New  laws  directed  against  the  Anarchists  were 
afterwards  enacted  ;  the  post-office  "  Cabinet  noir," 
where  private  correspondence  was  opened  and  read, 
was  revived ;  there  were  arrests  and  perquisitions 
all  over  Paris;  the  outrage  at  the  Cafe  Terminus 
ensued,  and  was  followed  by  others  elsewhere ; 
periodicals  were  seized,  Jean  Grave  was  sent  to 
prison  for  his  pamphlet,  '  La  Societe  mourante  et 
1' Anarchic,'  and  Maurice  Charnay  for  his  '  Cate- 
chisme  du  Soldat,'  which  aimed  at  destroying  all 

*  Cabotin  signifies  a  noisy,  vulgar,  thoroughly  Bohemian  actor  of  poor 
ability.  It  is  often  applied  also  to  members  of  second  and  third-rate 
touring  companies.  It  is  derived  from  a  personal  name. 


202  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

discipline  in  the  army.  But  the  Government  failed 
to  stamp  out  Anarchism,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  brought  about  great  discontent  among  the  working- 
classes.  At  last  came  the  assassination  of  President 
Carnot  at  Lyons,  followed  by  the  election  of  the 
authoritarian  Casimir  Perier  to  the  chief  office 
of  State,  and  the  voting  of  yet  more  panic  laws, 
and  the  suppression  of  all  publications  to  which  the 
authorities  assigned  an  Anarchist  character. 

Amidst  so  many  disquieting  occurrences  it  is 
hardly  surprising  that  Paris  lived  in  a  state  of 
extreme  nervous  tension.  If  a  trifling  mishap 
occurred  to  a  tramcar  through  an  electric  wire 
getting  out  of  order,  a  panic  inevitably  followed. 
When  a  little  accident  occurred  to  the  scenery  at  the 
Gaite  Theatre,  people  rushed  away,  fearing  the  very 
worst.  "  Les  Anarchistes  !  Une  bombe  !  "  were  the 
exclamations  heard  in  places  of  public  resort  when- 
ever any  untoward  incident  occurred. 

A  short  time  previously  Ferdinand  Brunetiere, 
a  somewhat  superficial  but  dogmatic  and  extremely 
conceited  critic,  with  many  prejudices  (he  had  the 
most  retreating  forehead  I  have  ever  observed 
among  literary  men  of  any  prominence),  had  suc- 
ceeded John  Lemoinne  as  an  Academician.  It 
became  his  duty  to  receive  another  new  member, 
Count  d'Haussonville,  and  in  the  speech  which  he 
then  delivered  he  launched  into  a  furious  diatribe 
against  the  Parisian  press,  which  gave  great  offence. 
The  Paris  students  took  up  the  matter  soon  after- 
wards, and  Brunetiere  was  mobbed  at  the  Sorbonne 
where  he  lectured.  There  was  also  that  year  a  nasty 
scandal  over  the  affairs  of  the  Banque  d'Escompte, 
the  chief  director  of  which,  Baron  de  Soubeyran, 
a  prominent  figure  in  plutocratic  society  and  a  deputy, 
was  arrested.  Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  all  that 
happened,  and  although  the  Panama  scandals  still 
continued,  the  Paris  Municipality  was  quite  successful 
in  raising  not  only  a  large  loan  with  the  Credit 


IN  THE  NINETIES  203 

Foncier  (in  round  figures  £11,200,000  at  3  '38  per 
cent.),  but  also  a  considerable  part  of  a  public  one 
(over  £7,000,000),  for  which  premium-bonds  were 
issued  in  instalments  (prolonged  till  1896),  the 
interest  being  only  2J  per  cent.,  and  the  annual  value 
of  the  premiums  about  £26,000.  The  average  price 
of  issue  was  379  frs.  55  c.  per  bond  of  400  frs. 

The  Cour  de  Cassation  had  quashed  the  convic- 
tions of  several  directors  of  the  ill-fated  Panama 
Canal  Company  during  the  previous  year,  when,  how- 
ever, Charles  de  Lesseps  and  an  official  named 
Blondin  were  convicted  on  fresh  charges  of  corrup- 
tion and  sentenced  to  imprisonment,  whilst  Baii- 
haut,  a  former  Minister  of  Public  Works,  was  found 
guilty  of  demanding  money  of  the  Company  and 
obtaining  from  it  a  sum  of  £15,000,  for  which  offence 
he  was  sentenced  to  five  years'  imprisonment,  a 
fine  of  £30,000,  the  loss  of  all  civil  rights,  and  the 
reimbursement  of  the  money  he  had  pocketed. 
As  for  the  promoter  of  the  enterprise,  the  unfortunate 
Ferdinand  de  Lesseps,  his  faculties  had  been  for 
some  time  impaired,  and  after  spending  long  months 
in  a  semi-somnolent  condition,  scarcely  aware  of 
what  went  on  around  him,  he  died  towards  the  close 
of  '94,  and  was  buried  at  Pere  Lachaise  cemetery. 
Generous  treatment  was  rightly  accorded  to  his 
memory.  The  failure  of  his  last  great  scheme  could 
not  bedim  the  triumph  of  the  earlier  one.  Had  he 
been  a  younger  man,  more  active,  less  compelled  to 
rely  upon  others,  Panama,  as  well  as  Suez,  might 
have  been  counted  among  his  achievements. 

During  the  autumn  preceding  his  death  news 
arrived  that  the  Count  de  Paris,  the  chief  pretender 
to  the  French  crown,  was  no  more,  whereupon  two- 
thirds  of  the  noble  Faubourg  Saint-Germain  hastened 
to  Weybridge  to  attend  his  funeral  there.  Further, 
in  '94  died  Auguste  Burdeau,  a  talented  statesman, 
who,  in  spite  of  the  malignity  of  his  enemies,  had 
become  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies. 


204  PARIS  AND  HER,  PEOPLE 

In  France  his  name  remains  linked  with  that  of 
Herbert  Spencer,  whose  works  he  translated.  William 
Waddington,  sometime  Prime  Minister,  ambassador 
and  archaeologist,  died  during  the  same  year,  as 
did  also  Jean  Mace,  the  founder  of  the  Ligue  de 
1'Enseignement  for  promoting  education  among  the 
working  classes,  and  the  author  of  that  famous 
little  book,  '  L'Histoire  d'une  Bouchee  de  Pain ' 
('  The  Story  of  a  Morsel  of  Bread '),  which,  though 
published  as  far  back  as  1861,  might  well  have  been 
issued  in  an  English  form  for  the  use  of  schools 
during  the  Great  War.  Art,  during  '94,  lost  Auguste 
Cain,  the  animal  sculptor  (who  like  Mace  was  of 
Parisian  birth),  and  poetry  Leconte  de  Lisle,  whose 
carefully  chiselled  verse  brought  antiquity  to  life 
again.  A  native  of  the  old  island  colony  of  La 
Reunion  (once  He  Bourbon),  far  away  in  the  Indian 
Ocean,  Leconte  became  one  of  the  foremost  Greek 
scholars  of  France,  as  his  translations  of  Homer, 
Theocrites  and  Sophocles  still  testify. 

Other  losses  incurred  during  '94  were  those  of 
James  Darmesteter,  the  learned  Orientalist — a  son 
of  the  lost  Lorraine — and  of  Victor  Duruy,  a  born 
Parisian,  sometime  Minister  of  Education  under 
Napoleon  III  and  also  the  author  of  able  histories 
of  Rome  and  France.  Another  link  with  the 
Second  Empire  was  severed  by  the  death  of  old 
General  Mellinet,  who  commanded  the  guard  at  the 
Tuileries  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution  of  1870. 
It  was  he  who  opened  the  garden  gates  to  admit 
Victorien  Sardou  and  others  after  the  Empress 
Eugenie  had  quitted  the  palace  attended  by  Count 
Nigra  and  Prince  Richard  Metternich.  Mellinet 
had  previously  sworn  to  defend  the  Empress  to  the 
death  if  she  were  molested  whilst  under  his  guard, 
and  this  soldier  of  the  Alma  and  Solf  erino  was  a  man 
to  have  kept  his  word.  But  the  Parisians  were 
by  no  means  sanguinarily  inclined  that  day.  They 
were  merely  under  the  passing  delusion  that  by 


IN  THE  NINETIES  205 

getting  rid  of  the  Empire  they  would  also  get  rid  of 
the  Germans — a  delusion  which  fell  upon  a  good 
many  Russians  of  a  later  date.  Eugene  Pelletan, 
one  of  the  authors  of  the  Revolution  of  1870,  and 
also  of  books  on  the  rights  of  man,  family  life  and 
royal  philosophers,  passed  away  in  the  same  year  as 
Mellinet.  He  was  a  man  of  much  less  ardent  tempera- 
ment than  his  turbulent  son  Camille,  who  died  during 
the  Great  War. 

Early  in  1895  Casimir-Perier  threw  up  his  post 
after  a  presidency  of  only  180  days'  duration.     He 
withdrew  chiefly  because  he  had  failed  to  "  get  on  " 
with    his    ministers    Charles    Dupuy    and    Gabriel 
Hanotaux  of    pin-prick  celebrity,  the  chief   factor 
in  the  disagreement  being  the  relations  of  France  and 
Germany  in  connection  with  the  famous  Dreyfus 
Affair,  which  originated  during  the  autumn  of   '94, 
and,  in  course  of  time,  threw  Paris,  and  other  parts 
of  France  also,  into  positive  convulsions.     Dreyfus, 
a   Jewish    officer,    was   accused   of   communicating 
certain  documents  to  the  German  military  attache  in 
Paris,  but  before  the  affair  ended  it  had  been  proved 
that  the  real  culprit  was  a  man  whose  private  life 
was  badly  tarnished,  that  is,  Major  Walsin-Esterhazy, 
an    illegitimate    scion    of    the    princely    Hungarian 
house.     The    authorities    long    persisted,    however, 
with  the  charge  against  Dreyfus,  and  the  circum- 
stance that  he  was  a  Jew  served  to  convince  millions 
of    French    people    of    his    guilt.      Anti-Semitism 
had  been  steadily  increasing   in  the  French  cities 
during    many   years.     The   failure    of    the   famous 
Union  generale  Bank  *  had  been  largely  attributed 
to  rival  Jewish  financiers,  and  a  certain  Edouard 
Drumont  had  roundly  denounced  all  the  tribes  of 
Judah  and  Israel  in  a  work     called  '  La  France 
Juive,'  first  published  in  1886,  and  in  later  years 
frequently  reprinted.     Further,  the  general  turmoil 
was  increased  by  the   Royalist  party   led  by  the 

*  See  p.  105,  ante. 


206 

present  Duke  of  Orleans,  who  regarded  the  anti- 
Dreyfus  and  anti-Jewish  agitations  as  supplying 
a  favourable  opportunity  to  undermine  and  eventu- 
ally overthrow  the  Republic.  In  these  designs  the 
Royalists  received  powerful  support  from  members 
of  the  French  episcopacy,  the  priesthood,  and  par- 
ticularly the  religious  orders.  Brimful  of  dramatic, 
and  at  times  startling,  episodes,  the  great  Affair 
lasted  from  1894  to  July,  1906,  when  the  Cour  de 
Cassation  finally  declared  the  innocence  of  Captain 
Dreyfus  to  be  established.* 

On  the  resignation  of  Casimir-Perier,  Felix  Faure 
became  President  of  the  Republic.  Apart  from  the 
trial  and  military  degradation  of  Dreyfus  and  his 
transportation  to  Devil's  Island,  various  occurrences 
of  minor  importance  attracted  attention  in  Paris 
during  1895.  In  February  Henri  Rochefort,  am- 
nestied for  his  share  in  the  Boulangist  agitation, 
returned  to  the  city  and  was  welcomed  there  by 
tumultuous  crowds  of  revolutionaries.  A  little  later 
came  a  couple  of  strikes,  one  among  the  match- 
makers and  the  second  among  the  omnibus-drivers, 
but  both  of  these  affairs  broke  down,  the  men  adopt- 
ing courses  which  alienated  the  sympathies  of  the 
general  public.  In  July  a  very  serious  conflagration, 
accompanied  by  loss  of  life,  occurred  in  the  Rue 
Rochechouart,  where  a  great  military  outfitting 
establishment  known  as  Godillot's  was  destroyed. 
Godillot  had  long  been  a  Parisian  celebrity  by  reason 
of  his  extraordinary  likeness  to  Napoleon  III,  whom 
he  imitated  in  all  sorts  of  ways,  in  such  wise  that  some 
people  imagined  him  to  be  an  illegitimate  scion  of 
the  Bonapartes.  Before  the  war  of  1870  he  was, 
much  to  his  delight,  frequently  mistaken  for  the 
Emperor,  and  people  would  even  say  to  you 

*  In  the  following  pages  I  propose  to  say  as  little  about  it  as  possible. 
Joseph  Reinach  has  written  a  detailed  and  admirable  history  of  the  affair. 
I  dealt  with  parts  of  it  in  '  Republican  France  '  and  in  '  Emile  Zola,  novelist 
and  reformer.'  The  '  Jewish  Encyclopedia '  may  also  be  consulted. 


IN  THE  NINETIES  207 

confidentially  that  the  sovereign's  solicitude  for  the 
working-classes  was  undeniable,  for  he  was  often  to 
be  seen  looking  about  him,  quite  incognito,  in  the 
districts  where  they  abounded.  If  you  ventured 
to  suggest  that  the  Emperor,  seen  by  your  informant, 
was  probably  his  "  double,"  you  incurred  the  risk 
of  being  regarded  as  a  revolutionary. 

During  August  Paris  was  vastly  amused  by  an 
episode  connected  with  a  sordid  scandal  in  which 
the  Southern  Railway  Company  had  been  involved 
by  Baron  de  Reinach,  of  Panamist  ill-fame.  A 
warrant  had  been  issued  for  the  arrest  of  a  Senator 
named  Edmond  Magnier,  who  was  also  political 
director  of  '  L'Evenement '  newspaper,  that  well- 
written  journal  then  being  largely  his  property. 
In  order  to  escape  apprehension,  Magnier,  who  had 
probably  read  the  '  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,'  caused 
himself  to  be  removed  from  his  handsome  hotel  at 
Neuilly  in  a  laundry-basket — without,  however,  the 
accompaniment  of  dirty  linen — and,  more  fortunate 
than  Falstaff,  he  was  not  cast  by  his  bearers  into  any 
river,  but  conveyed  to  a  safe  hiding-place,  where  he 
remained  until  he  deemed  it  best  to  surrender. 
Convicted  of  having  taken  a  large  bribe  from 
Baron  de  Reinach  in  return  for  "  parliamentary 
services,"  he  was  sentenced  to  a  year's  imprisonment, 
from  which  he  emerged  a  broken  man.  I  had  met 
him  on  several  occasions,  and  was  at  one  time  a 
regular  reader  of  c  L'Evenement,'  which,  apart  from 
the  moderate  Republican  politics  it  professed,  was 
run  on  lines  not  unlike  those  of  '  Le  Figaro,'  to 
which  journal  Magnier  had  been  attached. 

Originally  a  petty  journalist  at  Boulogne-sur-Mer, 
he  had  come  to  Paris  about  the  time  of  the  1870  war, 
and  after  obtaining  some  work  on  '  Le  Figaro,'  had 
even  taken  the  place  of  Villemessant,  its  founder 
and  director,  when  the  latter  fled  from  the  city,  in 
dread  either  of  the  Germans  or  the  Communards. 
Magnier  then  ran  the  paper  on  Republican  lines, 


208  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

which,  in  the  circumstances,  was  a  wise  course  to 
take,  but  when  Villemessant  returned  to  Paris, 
Magnier  was  promptly  cashiered  for  his  presumption. 
Meantime,  however,  he  had  made  himself  known, 
and  he  secured  sufficient  support  to  establish  another 
paper — taking  his  revenge  on  Villemessant  by  calling 
it  '  L'Evenement,'  which  had  been  the  name  of  a 
journal  belonging  to  Villemessant  during  the  Empire, 
when,  on  account  of  many  prosecutions,  it  was  merged 
into  '  Le  Figaro,'  which  previously,  that  is  since  1854, 
had  been  only  a  weekly  satirical  journal,  owned  also 
by  the  same  Villemessant.  In  1866,  however,  after 
discontinuing  '  L'Evenement,'  he  turned  '  Le  Figaro  ' 
into  a  daily  ;  and  he  was,  of  course,  quite  horrified 
when  Magnier  brought  out  a  rival  journal  and 
gave  it  the  name  of  his  old  organ,  which  was,  in 
many  respects,  '  Le  Figaro's  '  parent.  But  he  could 
not  prevent  this,  for  the  law  was  against  him. 
Magnier  prospered  exceedingly,  made  money,  lived 
well,  became  one  of  le  tout  Paris,  and  finally  secured 
election  as  a  senator  for  the  Var — occupying  the 
very  position  that  Clemenceau  has  now  held  for 
many  years.* 

During  the  last  forty  or  fifty  years  I  have  seen 
some  strange  fortunes  built  up  in  the  world  of 
Parisian  journalism.  There  is  no  doubt  that  many 
directors  of  newspapers  made  large  sums  out  of  the 
difficulties  of  the  Panama  Company,  f  and,  apart  from 
any  such  money-market  affairs,  rank  puffery  has 
been  practised  wholesale  both  by  managers  and  by 
contributors  to  a  number  of  well-known  journals. 
I  remember  the  director  of  a  very  popular  paper 
who  lived  in  an  extremely  fine  house  where  he  was 
fond  of  giving  lavish  entertainments  to  which  le  tout 
Paris  was  invited.  "  All  this  must  cost  a  good  deal 
of  money,"  an  Englishman  fresh  to  Paris  remarked 

*  Magnier  must  not  be  confounded  with  M.  Francis  Magnard,  who 
became  director  of  '  Le  Figaro.' 

t  See  my  '  Republican  France,'  pp.  352,  354,  355,  361,  369. 


IN  THE  NINETIES  209 

to  me  and  a  mutual  friend  on  one  such  occasion. 
"  Not  a  bit  of  it  !  "  my  friend  replied.  "  Nothing 
is  paid  for,  neither  the  flowering  plants  massed  in 
such  profusion  on  the  staircase  and  in  the  conserva- 
tory, nor  the  elaborate  supper,  nor  the  wines,  nor 
even  Madame's  wonderful  new  frock.  The  musicians 
receive  nothing  for  their  services  excepting  refresh- 
ments, which  cost  our  Amphitryon  nothing;  the 
vocalists  are  not  remunerated  in  cash,  nor  is  the 
actor  who  just  made  us  laugh  with  his  witty  mono- 
logue.  In  a  word,  puffery  pays  for  virtually  every- 
thing excepting  the  lights.  Our  Amphitryon  has 
turned  it  into  a  fine  art,  and  left  even  Villemessant, 
who,  in  his  time,  was  regarded  as  the  master  at  the 
game,  far  behind.  The  very  furniture  of  this  house, 
the  carpets,  the  hangings,  were  paid  for  by  reclames, 
and  not  a  garment  worn  by  our  Amphitryon's  pretty 
wife,  nor  an  article  of  perfumery  on  her  toilet-table, 
ever  cost  her  a  sou  of  actual  cash  !  "  That  was  little 
more  than  twenty  years  ago,  otherwise  during  the 
Nineties,  the  period  with  which  I  am  now  dealing. 
I  knew  my  friend's  statements  to  be  quite  true,  yet, 
although  the  "  founder  of  the  feast  "  on  that  occasion 
has  been  dead  for  some  years  past,  I  prefer  to  keep 
back  his  name.  I  will  only  add  that  he  was  a  man 
who  would  have  appealed  powerfully  to  Balzac,  and 
that  Thackeray  also  would  have  delighted  in  him. 
Maupassant  pictured  one  of  his  forerunners  in  the 
pages  of  '  Bel  Ami.' 

It  was,  I  think,  during  1894  that  Coquelin  aine 
quarrelled  with  the  management  of  the  Comedie 
Franyaise  and  quitted  that  house.  The  causes  of 
the  rupture  were,  as  usual,  dislike  of  the  regulations 
and  the  restraints  which  they  imposed.  Proceedings 
were  instituted,  and  in  March,  '95,  a  judgment  was 
given  by  which  the  great  actor  was  ordered  to 
pay  damages  every  time  that  he  might  perform 
elsewhere.  The  dispute  lasted  some  while  longer, 
but  eventually  terms  of  compromise  were  reached, 

p 


210  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

which  enabled  Coquelin  to  retain  his  liberty.  His 
defection  was  undoubtedly  a  serious  loss  to  the 
'premier  theatre  francais,  and  was  responsible  for  the 
absence  of  more  than  one  new  play  from  its  bill 
during  1895.  The  principal  absolutely  new  work, 
'  Les  Tenailles,'  by  Paul  Hervieu,  was  not  produced 
until  September.  Two  other  novelties  were  given, 
however, — '  Le  Pardon,'  by  Jules  Lemaitre,  which 
was  performed  a  score  of  times  that  year,  but  on 
only  two  occasions  during  the  ensuing  twelvemonth, 
after  which  it  was  consigned  to  limbo — and  '  Le 
Faune,'  a  little  one-act  pastoral  by  Lefevre,  which 
likewise  had  but  a  brief  career.  Yet  '  L'Ami  des 
Femmes,'  by  Dumas  fils  (Gymnase,  1864),  was  revived 
and  secured  no  fewer  than  77  performances.  Less 
successful  was  the  revival  of  that  excellent  piece, 
'  Les  Faux  Bonhommes '  (Barriere  and  Capendu, 
1856) — perhaps  because  it  seemed,  for  a  modern 
comedy,  to  have  become  rather  old-fashioned.  Else- 
where that  year  we  had  Coppee's  strong  and  interest- 
ing play  in  verse,  '  Pour  la  Couronne,'  and  a  couple  of 
notable  musical  works — first  an  opera,  '  La  Montagne 
Noire,'  by  the  gifted  Augusta  Holmes,  who  although 
French,  in  fact  Parisian,  by  birth,  was  by  parentage 
a  daughter  of  Ireland ;  *  and  secondly,  '  La  Vivan- 
diere,'  one  of  the  bright,  almost  elegant  operas- 
comiques  of  Benjamin  Godard,  who  died  that  same 
year,  cut  off  at  the  early  age  of  forty-four. 

He  was  not  the  only  notable  man  connected  with 
the  stage  who  was  called  away  in  '95,  for  Dumas  fils 
died  at  Marly-le-Roi,  near  Paris,  aged  71.  He  had 
produced  little  since  his  triumph  with  '  Francillon,' 
in  '87,  but  the  reader  will  have  noticed  that  his 
last  years  were  marked  by  the  revival  at  the  Comedie 
of  many  of  his  old  Gymnase  plays.  By  birth  Dumas 
fils  was  a  Parisian,  but  he  had  inherited  from  his 

*  I  do  not  know  how  the  lady  herself  pronounced  her  name,  but  the 
French  turned  it  into  a  word  of  two  syllables :  Hol-mes.'  Her  symphonies 
and  melodies  were  often  of  the  highest  merit. 


IN  THE  NINETIES  211 

famous  father  a  strain  of  negro  blood,  to  which  was 
added  one  of  Jewish  blood,  derived  from  his  mother, 
a  young  seamstress.     I  have  no  full  biography  of 
him  beside  me,  but  I  believe  that  he  was  legally 
recognized  by  his  father,  and  therefore  fully  entitled 
to  the  name  he  bore.     The  Jewish  strain   in   his 
composition,  coupled  with  the  striking  object-lesson 
of  his  father's  prodigal  career,  inclined  him,  not  to 
miserliness  as  some  of  his  enemies  asserted,  but  to 
extreme   carefulness   in   money   matters.     He   well 
knew,  moreover,  how  to  drive  a  bargain  with  others— 
notably  in  purchasing  works  of  art,  which  he  often 
resold  at  a  profit,  and  also  how  to  exact  his  full  due 
in  respect  to  all  works  of  his  own.     Some  folk  called 
him  a  mere  mercanti,  and  there  were  certainly  a  few 
unpleasant  episodes  in  his  career.     At  the  same  time 
his  great  literary  powers  could  not  be  contested. 
He  was  a  keen,  shrewd  observer  of  the  men  and 
women  of  his  time,  and,  making  all  due  allowance 
for  the  necessary  artifices  and  conventionalizes  of  the 
stage,  his  characters  were,  as  a  rule,  extremely  true 
to  life.     Though  most  of  Dumas'  years  were  given 
to  dramatic  work,  one  should  not  overlook  the  novels 
of  his  earlier  life :  *  La  Dame  aux  Camelias '  and  '  Diane 
de  Lys,'  for  instance,  were  stories  before  they  became 
plays. 

Mme.  Miolan-Carvalho,*  the  famous  prima  donna, 
also  died  in  '95,  as  did  Edmond  Geffrey,  for  many 
years  one  of  the  most  popular  of  Parisian  actors,  one, 
indeed,  who  made  successive  generations  laugh  right 
heartily,  yet  who  also  found  time  to  display  genuine 
talent  as  a  painter.  Art  that  same  year  lost  a  very- 
able  critic  in  Paul  Mantz,  who  had  become  official 
Director  of  Fine  Arts  ;  and  in  literature,  apart  from 
him  and  Dumas,  one  noted  the  departure  of  Gustave 
Droz,  Emile  Montegut  and  Camille  Doucet.  Droz 
was  of  Swiss  extraction,  but  a  Parisian  by  birth. 
Some  might  perhaps  find  it  difficult  to  picture  the 

*  Seep.  116, ante. 


212  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

author  of  '  Monsieur,  Madame  et  Bebe '  as  a  scion 
of  the  staid  Swiss  race,  for  that  sprightly,  amusing 
book  is  essentially  French.  Yet  something  in  Droz's 
writing  recalled  the  light,  good-natured  humour 
and  irony  of  Topffer,  blended,  of  course,  with  the 
Parisianism  which  only  comes  fully  to  those  who  are 
born  in  the  city  by  the  Seine,  or  who  go  there  when 
quite  young,  and  thoroughly  assimilate  not  only 
its  outward  and  visible  ways,  which  strangers  acquire 
more  or  less  readily,  in  proportion  to  their  imitative 
faculties,  but  also  its  points  of  view,  its  thoughts,  or 
rather  its  way  of  thinking.  I  was  instrumental  in 
making  '  Monsieur,  Madame  et  Bebe '  known  to  most 
English  readers.  The  first  translation  of  the  work  in 
our  language  was  published  by  Vizetelly  &  Co.  whilst 
I  was  assisting  my  father  on  the  literary  side  of  that 
business.  Some  people,  I  remember,  thought  parts  of 
the  book  rather  naughty,  but  that  was  long  before 
the  days  of  Elinor,  Gertie,  and  their  sisterly  rivals 
in  authorship. 

Emile  Montegut,  who  also  died  in  1895,  was  a 
writer  with  a  delicate,  polished  style,  and  must  be 
numbered  among  those  who  have  essayed  the 
difficult  task  of  translating  the  works  of  our  national 
poet.  Camille  Doucet,  though  of  small  account  as  a 
dramatic  author,  became  a  member  of  the  French 
Academy  in  succession  to  Alfred  de  Vigny,  and  in 
1874  was  appointed  "  perpetual  secretary  "  to  the 
Immortals  of  the  Palais  de  1'Institut.*  This  position 
raised  him  to  considerable  prominence  and  influence. 

*  Sometimes  called  the  Palais  Mazarin,  as  it  was  erected  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  for  a  college  founded  by  Mazarin.  Standing  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Seine  and  faced  nowadays  by  a  statue  of  the  Republic,  the 
building,  which  is  one  of  distinctive  appearance,  but  by  no  means  an  archi- 
tectural masterpiece  (the  dome  is  almost  ugly) ,  was  assigned  by  Napoleon 
in  1806  to  the  five  classes  of  the  Institute  of  France,  that  is,  the  French 
Academy,  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  that  of  Inscriptions  and  Belles  Lettres, 
that  of  Moral  and  Political  Sciences,  and  that  of  Fine  Arts.  The  Academy 
of  Sciences  is  composed  of  66  and  each  of  the  others  of  40  members.  All, 
excepting  the  French  Academy,  elect  a  certain  number  of  "  free  "  members, 
foreign  associates  and  French  and  foreign  correspondents. 


IN   THE  NINETIES  213 

Most  of  the  members  of  the  Academy  have,  in  our 
times,  shown  themselves  to  be  men  with  minds  of 
their  own,  pronounced  likes  and  dislikes,  and  one 
cannot  therefore  say  that  Doucet  was  ever  powerful 
enough  to  bring  about  the  election  or  rejection  of 
any  particular  candidate.  Nevertheless,  although 
he  was  uniformly  urbane  with  everybody,  he  did  not 
neglect  the  influence  which  his  position  gave  him. 
Further,  although  it  was  not  for  him  to  award  the 
literary  and  other  prizes  which  the  Academy  bestows, 
he  largely  selected  the  members  who  examined  the 
works  submitted  to  the  academical  judgment.  No 
precise  charge  of  undue  favouritism  was  ever  pre- 
ferred against  him,  but  the  secretaire  perpetuel  of  the 
Academy  has  many  opportunities  of  quietly  con- 
veying his  impressions  to  his  colleagues  and  of  winning 
to  his  own  views  those  who  are  too  indolent  to  look 
into  things  themselves. 

In  the  days  of  Thiers  the  most  familiar  figure  at 
the  Elysee  Palace  was  that  of  his  friend  and  secretary- 
general,  Barthelemy  Saint-Hilaire.  Probably  only 
one  in  twenty  of  those  who  had  occasion  to  approach 
this  courteous  old  gentleman  in  his  secretarial 
position,  half -political,  half -bureaucratic  in  character, 
was  aware  that  he  took  high  rank  as  a  philosophical 
scholar,  that  he  had  translated  the  works  of  Aristotle, 
and  written  ably  on  the  School  of  Alexandria, 
Buddhism  and  Mahomet.  Of  illegitimate  birth 
(Paris,  1805),  he  was  probably  the  son  of  the  Mile,  de 
Saint-Hilaire,  who  was  said  to  have  been  his  aunt. 
Before  attaching  himself  to  Thiers  he  gave  thirty 
years  of  services  to  Victor  Cousin,  who  at  his  death, 
in  '67,  bequeathed  him  a  fortune.  Saint-Hilaire  was 
a  nonagenarian  when  he  died,  so  that  almost  the  whole 
of  the  nineteenth  century  passed  before  his  eyes. 

Memories  of  the  Second  Empire  were  once  more 
aroused  by  some  other  deaths  which  occurred  in 
'95.  Cardinal  Bonaparte  passed  away,  and  Prince 
Achille  Murat,  whom  I  could  remember  as  a  dashing 


214  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

yotmg  officer  in  the  Guides  de  1'Imperatrice,  married 
with  much  pomp  to  a  Princess  Salom6  of  some 
Eastern  race,  shot  himself  in  a  fit  of  insanity. 
Further,  Prince  Richard  Metternich,  husband  of  one 
of  the  Three  Graces  of  the  Tuileries,  the  lady  who 
preferred  to  call  herself  le  singe  d  la  mode,  joined  the 
majority,  as  did  also  Baron  Larrey,  who,  following  his 
great  father  ("  the  most  virtuous  man  I  ever  knew," 
said  Napoleon),  became,  prior  to  the  war  of  1870, 
Chief  Surgeon  of  the  French  armies.  If  Napoleon  III, 
at  a  comparatively  early  stage  of  the  malady  to 
which  he  eventually  succumbed,  had  only  acted  on 
the  advice  given  him  by  Larrey  the  younger,  he 
would  probably  have  prolonged  his  life  by  several 
years.*  Very  different,  too,  might  have  been  the 
latter-day  history  of  France  if  in  the  war-year  of 
1870  the  Emperor  had  still  been  a  vigorous,  clear- 
headed man,  freed  from  the  sufferings  entailed  by  the 
complaint  which  he  vainly  strove  to  hide. 

France,  indeed,  one  might  well  say  the  world, 
lost  a  great  scientist,  chemist,  and  physician  also, 
when  at  the  end  of  September,  '95,  Louis  Pasteur 
passed  away  in  his  seventy -third  year  at  Garches, 
in  the  environs  of  Paris.  Great  benefits  sprang  from 
his  researches  and  discoveries.  He  studied  the 
processes  of  fermentation  deeply  and  minutely,  he 
was  the  first  to  detect  several  of  nature's  hidden 
methods  of  work,  he  found  that  each  putrefactive 
disease  had  its  particular  bacillus  which  could  be 
isolated  and  cultivated.  He  arrested  the  progress 
of  silkworm  disease,  of  maladies  also  to  which  sheep 
and  poultry  were  liable.  He  threw  light  on  the 
properties  of  vinegar,  he  devised  the  system  known 
as  pasteurization  for  improving,  without  the  adjunc- 
tion of  any  foreign  element,  the  quality  of  wine,  and 
finally,  in  '85,  came  his  method  for  the  treatment  of 
hydrophobia.  This  made  him  known  throughout 
the  world,  but  the  importance  of  his  work  in  other 

*  See  our  *  Court  of  the  Tuileries,  1852-1870.' 


IN  THE  NINETIES  215 

fields  had  long  been  recognized  and  appreciated  by 
scientists,  and  by  enlightened  folk  engaged  in  in- 
dustry and  agriculture.  More  than  one  national 
recompense  was  awarded  to  Pasteur  by  the  French 
Legislature.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  French 
Academy,  as  well  as  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  ; 
and  the  Institute  bearing  his  name  in  the  Rue  Dutot 
at  Paris  was  built  and  endowed  with  public  funds. 
He  was  by  birth  a  Jurassian,  but  Paris  was  the  scene 
of  many  of  his  labours.  One  of  the  city's  outer 
boulevards  bears  his  name,  and  a  monument  to  his 
memory  stands  on  the  Place  de  Breteuil. 


X 

THE   END    OF  THE   NINETIES 

The  Emperor  Nicholas  II  in  Paris — The  Status  of  Madaitie  la  President© 
— Social  Solecisms  at  Compiegne — Various  Incidents  in  '96 — The 
Prince  de  Sagan  and  Abel  Hermant — Plays  and  Operas — The  Passing 
of  many  Notable  Men — Arsene  Houssaye — Edmond  de  Goncourt  and 
his  Academy — A  Tornado  in  Paris — The  Bazar  de  la  Charit6  Calamity 
— The  Montyon  and  other  Prizes  of  the  Academy — Demolins  and  the 
"  Superiority  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  " — Plays  and  Operas  in  '97 — 
More  Obituaries — The  Uproar  over  the  Dreyfus  Case — Yet  another 
of  Death's  Harvests — The  Countess  di  Castiglione — The  Sensational 
Death  of  President  Faure — A  secret  Dreyf  usite  Mission  to  Germany — 
Prince  von  Billow  and  France— Loubet  becomes  President — Waldeck- 
Rousseau's  Drastic  Policy — Close  of  the  Dreyfus  Case — Operas  and 
Plays  of  '99 — The  Great  Question  of  Submarines— The  Rise  and  the 
Principles  of  Syndicalism — The  Confederation  generate  du  Travail — 
Strikes  in  France— The  Great  Exhibition  of  1900— The  Theatre 
Fran§ais  destroyed  and  rebuilt. 

THE  great  event  in  the  life  of  Paris  during  the  year 
1896  was  the  visit  of  the  Russian  Emperor  and  his 
consort.  Nicholas  II,  who  was  then  twenty-eight 
years  old,  had  succeeded  to  the  autocratic  throne 
on  the  death  of  his  father,  Alexander  III,  two  years 
previously.  Great  hopes,  if  not  expectations,  centred 
round  his  personality,  which  was  distinctly  engaging. 
Whatever  may  have  been  written  or  said  about  him 
in  these  later  days,  it  stands  to  his  credit  that  he 
initiated  the  famous  Hague  Conferences  designed  to 
check,  if  not  absolutely  prevent,  warfare,  and  that 
he  conferred  upon  Russia  at  least  the  first  rudiments 
of  parliamentary  government.  But  autocrats,  as  a 
rule,  are  autocratic  in  name  only.  They  usually 
come  more  or  less  under  the  influence  of  favourites, 
confidants,  parasites,  counsellors  of  various  kinds. 
Their  actual  intentions,  even  their  imperative  com- 
mands, are  often  thwarted  in  various  devious  ways. 

216 


THE   END   OF  THE  NINETIES         217 

In  the  modern  world  no  man's  will  can  be  law  unless 
it  coincides  with  the  will  of  at  least  a  considerable 
body  of  other  men.  The  truth,  moreover,  is  often 
concealed  from  the  autocrat.  He  cannot  be  here, 
there  and  everywhere,  but  has  to  believe  those  who 
are  appointed  by  him  to  office,  and  who,  in  the 
absence  of  public  control,  are  able  to  do  much  as  they 
please. 

The  creation  of  the  Duma  came  too  late  to  save 
Russian  imperialism,  and,  besides,  powerful  vested 
interests  were  banded  together  in  a  determination 
to  make  the  Duma  a  failure.  Further,  it  is  without 
doubt  most  difficult  to  provide  proper  representative 
control  in  a  country  where  illiteracy  is  so  widespread. 
According  to  official  returns,*  in  the  year  1900,  when 
the  population  of  European  Russia  (Finland  ex- 
cepted)  was,  in  round  figures,  134,000,000,  f  the 
number  of  persons  aged  between  11  and  59  years, 
who  could  neither  read  nor  write,  was  nearly 
59,000,000.  I  find  it  recorded  also  that  four  years 
later  there  were  less  than  16,800,000  children  attend- 
ing the  elementary  schools  in  the  fifty  governments 
of  Russia  in  Europe. {  Those  figures  explain  much 
that  has  occurred  during  the  Russian  Revolution ; 
and,  circumstances  certainly  being  no  better  to-day 
than  they  were  when  the  century  began — indeed, 
they  must  be  very  much  worse — the  reader  will 
realize  how  stupendous  is  the  problem  of  organizing 
real  representative  government  in  Russia.  To  give 
even  a  smattering  of  education  to  so  many  millions 
is  a  task  that  must  occupy  long  years. 

Tsardom  was  undoubtedly  responsible  for  this 

*  Comparative  Tables  in  the  '  Annuaire  statistique  de  la  France. 

f  That  of  Asiatic  Russia,  without  counting  the  protectorates,  was  about 
28,000,000. 

J  The  Finns  have  always  been  better  educated  than  the  Russians. 
With  a  population  exceeding  three  millions,  the  total  number  of  absolute 
illiterates  at  the  beginning  of  the  century  was  26,000.  Russian  Poland, 
which  numbered  9,400,000  people,  had,  however,  3,500,000  (aged  between 
1 1  and  59  years)  who  could  neither  read  nor  write. 


•218  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

lamentable  state  of  affairs,  which  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  primary  causa  causans  of  Bolshevism. 
Nicholas  II  succeeded  to  even  a  more  dreadful 
heritage  than  did  Louis  XVI,  and,  judging  by  what 
I  have  read  and  have  been  told  by  people  long 
resident  in  Russia,  no  real  effort  to  improve  the 
education  of  the  masses,  steeped  in  such  pitiful 
ignorance,  was  made  during  his  twenty  years  of 
reign  before  the  Great  War  began.  Yet  to  impute 
to  Nicholas  the  entire  responsibility  for  Russia's 
downfall  would  be  injustice.  History  will  probably 
revise  in  a  very  drastic  fashion  the  hasty  judgments 
pronounced  upon  this  monarch,  who  may  or  may 
not — there  is  absolutely  no  certainty — prove  to  have 
been  the  last  of  the  Russian  Tsars.  Doubtless  the 
many  fables  related  of  him  and  of  the  Empress,  his 
wife,  will  continue  circulating  in  the  pages  of  the 
anecdotiers,  but  History  will  certainly  draw  her  blue 
pencil  across  a  great  number  of  foolish  and  scurrilous 
stories,  swallowed,  without  even  the  proverbial 
grain  of  salt,  by  the  thousands  of  gullible  people 
whose  existence  the  late  Great  War  has  revealed. 
Unlike  Charles  I  and  Louis  XVI,  Nicholas  II  was 
not  granted  even  the  semblance  of  a  trial.  Dea/th 
came  to  him  by  assassination,  as  it  came  to  his 
ancestor,  Paul  I,  and  to  his  grandfather,  Alex- 
ander II.  We  have  been  told  also  that  his  wife,  his 
son,  his  four  daughters  and  other  members  of  his 
house  also  perished  at  the  hands  of  the  desperadoes, 
who,  whilst  plunging  Russia  into  the  direst  misery, 
the  most  poignant  sufferings,  seem  to  have  made  it 
their  object  to  surpass  in  infamy  even  the  Parisian 
Septembriseurs  of  1792,  and  the  Communards  of 
1871. 

Did  Nicholas  II  during  his  last  days  ever  cast 
back  his  thoughts  to  his  visits  to  France  in  1896, 
1901,  and  1909  ?  *  When,  accompanied  by  the 

*  On  the  last  occasion  he  only  called  at  Cherbourg  (where  President 
Fallieres  received  him)  whilst  on  his  way  to  Cowes  to  join  King  Edward. 


THE  END   OF  THE  NINETIES        219 

Empress,  he  reached  Cherbourg  early  in  October, 
'96,  he  found  the  Presidents  of  the  Republic  (Felix 
Faure),  the  Senate  (Emile  Loubet),  and  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  (Henri  Brisson),  together  with  the 
Prime  Minister  (Meline),  and  the  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs  (Hanotaux),  waiting  to  welcome  him  and  his 
consort.  Thus  attended  by  the  chief  personages  of 
the  Republic,  the  Russian  sovereigns  came  to  Paris, 
where  they  installed  themselves  at  the  Russian 
Embassy.  Under  the  Second  Empire  they  would 
probably  have  been  lodged  at  the  Elysee  Palace, 
which  then  served  as  a  guest-house  for  royal  visitors, 
Napoleon  III  occupying  the  Tuileries.  But  times 
had  changed,  the  Tuileries  no  longer  existed,  the 
Elysee  was  allotted  to  the  President  of  the  Republic, 
and  no  state  building  in  all  Paris  was  suitable  for 
the  accommodation  of  a  foreign  potentate  and  his 
retinue. 

One  of  the  chief  functions  of  the  visit  in  '96  was 
the  laying  of  the  first  corner-stone  of  a  new  bridge 
over  the  Seine,  which  it  had  been  decided  to  call  the 
Pont  Alexandre  III,  in  memory  of  the  Tsar's  father, 
in  whose  time  the  rapprochement  between  Russia  and 
France  had  begun.  This  bridge,  conducting  from 
the  Cours-la-Reine  to  the  Esplanade  des  Invalides, 
was  intended  to  finish  off  various  Champs  Ely  sees 
improvements  planned  for  the  universal  Exhibition 
of  1900.  For  instance,  the  old  Palais  de  1'Industrie, 
dating  from  1855,  was  demolished,  two  new  palaces 
sprang  up  in  its  stead,  and  a  new  thoroughfare  was 
laid  out,  and  christened,  in  honour  of  the  Tsar,  the 
Avenue  Nicolas  II.  Whether  it  still  bears  that  name 
I  cannot  say.  But  monarchs  who  are  overthrown 
usually  fall  into  disrepute. 

Paris,  however,  made  much  of  the  Russian  Tsar 
in  '96.  He  and  his  consort  visited  many  monu- 
ments and  edifices,  and  were  entertained  with 
great  banquets,  a  gala  performance  at  the  Opera,  a 
splendid  fete  at  Versailles,  and  a  review  of  70,000 


220  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

troops  at  the  camp  of  Chalons.*  The  State  spent 
£220,000  on  the  reception  of  its  guests,  and  the 
municipality  of  Paris  another  £80,000.  Four  Acade- 
micians, Fran9ois  Coppee,  Jules  Claretie,  Jose-Maria 
de  Heredia  and  Sully-Prudhomme,  composed  odes 
in  honour  of  the  Russian  monarch,  Sully-Prud- 
homme's  being  recited  by  Sarah  Bernhardt  amidst 
the  splendours  of  the  Versailles  fete.  Prior  to 
this  Russian  visit  there  had  never  been  any  official 
recognition  of  the  wives  of  the  successive  Presidents 
of  the  Republic,  but  Nicholas  II  invariably  gave 
his  arm  to  Mme.  Felix  Faure  at  the  different  State 
functions,  the  President  following  suit  with  the 
Tsarina.  Faure  had  risen,  chiefly  by  his  own 
exertions,  from  quite  a  modest  position.  He  was 
possessed  of  genuine  ability,  and  his  intentions 
were  often  excellent.  But  he  inclined  too  much 
towards  militarism,  this  leading  him  to  take  the 
wrong  course  with  respect  to  the  Dreyfus  case. 
Further,  he  evinced  a  marked  partiality  for  outward 
show  and  glitter,  and  formed  too  exalted  an  opinion 
of  his  station.  The  Tsar's  visit  to  Paris  undoubtedly 
contributed  to  turn  the  President's  head,  and  he 
became  yet  more  convinced  of  his  own  importance 
after  he  had  paid  a  return  visit  to  Russia  in  '97— 
when,  for  the  first  time,  the  relations  between  the 
two  countries,  previously  described  as  an  entente, 
were  publicly  recognized  as  an  alliance. 

I  have  mentioned  that  the  Russian  sovereigns 
again  visited  France  in  1901.  Faure  was  then  dead, 
and  Emile  Loubet  held  the  Presidency.  On  this 
occasion  the  imperial  party  stayed  at  the  Chateau 
of  Compiegne,  followed  some  army  manoeuvres,  and 
reviewed  150,000  troops  at  Betheny.  An  amusing 

*  There  were  wild  scenes  that  day  at  the  Eastern  Railway  Station  in 
Paris.  The  building  was  invaded  by  a  mass  of  people  eager  to  go  to 
Chalons.  Thousands  more  blocked  the  approaches.  But  the  officials  had 
made  no  proper  provision  for  the  transport  of  so  many  passengers,  and 
although  a  few  hundreds  managed  to  get  away,  some  twenty  or  thirty 
thousand  were  left  behind. 


THE  END  OF  THE   NINETIES        221 

incident  occurred  during  the  sojourn  at  Cornpiegne. 
The  wives  of  the  French  ministers  and  of  several 
other  high  functionaries  who  were  invited  to  a  lunch 
at  the  chateau,  felt  perplexed  as  to  what  would  be 
fitting  raiment  for  the  occasion.  They  finally 
assumed  more  or  less  elaborate  toilettes  de  reception, 
and  had  their  hair  ornately  dressed.  It  followed 
that  they  were  quite  taken  aback  when,  whilst 
waiting  for  the  appearance  of  the  Russian  Empress, 
they  were  joined  by  Mme.  de  Montebello,  wife  of  the 
French  Ambassador  in  Russia,  and  perceived  that 
she  was  wearing  walking  costume  and  hat.  Mme. 
Waldeck-Rousseau,  wife  of  the  Prime  Minister,  also 
appeared  similarly  attired,  and  these  two  were  highly 
amused  by  the  manifest  astonishment  of  their  cheres 
amies,  who  could  scarcely  believe  their  eyes.  When, 
however,  the  Empress  entered  it  was  seen  that  she 
also  was  hatted  and  wore  walking  dress,  whereupon 
the  others  almost  collapsed  in  their  confusion. 
This  little  affair  greatly  amused  the  more  aristocratic 
society  of  Paris  for  some  days. 

But  I  must  hark  back  to  '96.  The  cause  celebre 
of  the  year  was  probably  the  trial  of  Arton,  a 
mendacious  scamp  who  had  been  employed  to 
corrupt  influential  people  in  connection  with  the 
Panama  affair.  He  was  sentenced  to  eight  years' 
penal  servitude,  but  several  deputies,  whom  he  was 
said  to  have  bribed,  were  acquitted,  the  man's 
untruthfulness  being  so  manifest  that  one  could 
hardly  believe  a  word  he  said.  There  were  other 
financial  scandals  about  this  time,  notably  in  regard 
to  some  agreements  negotiated  between  the  State 
and  the  railway  companies.  A  little  later  Parisians 
became  rather  alarmed  by  the  Chamber's  pronounce- 
ment in  favour  of  an  income  tax,  but  its  legalization 
seemed  remote  as  the  Senate  was  opposed  to  it. 
There  was  a  lively  conflict  between  the  two  branches 
of  the  Legislature  over  some  Madagascar  credits, 
and  the  Senate  so  far  gained  the  day  as  to  bring 


222  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

about  a  change  of  ministry.  Meanwhile  the  Paris 
Municipal  Council  went  beyond  its  powers  by  voting 
a  sum  of  money  for  the  expenses  of  delegates  to  an 
international  Socialist  Congress  in  London,  and  the 
Government  had  to  interfere. 

During  the  spring   an   accident   at  the   Grand 
Opera  resulted  in  half  a  dozen  spectators  in  an  upper 
gallery  being  injured,  one  of  them  fatally.     This  was 
caused  by  one  of  the  pulleys  of  a  chandelier  giving 
way.     A  duel  with  pistols,  which  proved  a  very 
harmless  affair,  was  nevertheless  much  talked  about 
on  account  of  the  personality  of  the  antagonists  : 
the  Prince  de  Sagan  and  Abel  Hermant,  now  of  the 
French  Academy.     The  Prince,  born  in  1832,  was  a 
notorious  Parisian  character,  who  had  long  posed  as 
arbiter  elegantarium  among  the  fast  set  of  the  capital. 
He  belonged  to  the  famous  house  of  Talley  rand-Peri  - 
gord,  and  his  father  was  Duke  de  Talleyrand  and  Duke 
de  ValenQay  in  France,  besides  being  Duke  of  Sagan 
in  Prussia.     This  principality  had  come  to  the  Duke 
from  his  mother,  the  heiress  of  the  last  Duke  of 
Courland.     The  Duke  remained,  however,  a  French- 
man, and  his  two  wives  were  also  French — one  a 
Montmorency  and  the  other  a  Castellane — though 
he  spent  a  good  deal  of  his  time  in  Germany,  looking 
after  his  possessions  there.     It  must  be  admitted 
that  Prussia  did  not  interfere  with  his  rights  over 
Sagan,  which  is  situated  between  Frankfort-on-the- 
Oder  and  Breslau,  going  by  way  of  Guben,  Sommer- 
feld  and  Liegnitz.     It  is  what  the  Germans  call  a 
mediatized  principality,    and  its   chief   town,   also 
called  Sagan,   has   some   12,000  inhabitants.     The 
holder  of  the  principality  used  to  be  entitled  to  a 
seat  in  the  Prussian  House  of  Lords,  or  Herrenhaus, 
but  the  Dukes  of  the  Talleyrand-Perigord  line,  being 
Frenchmen,   were  represented  there  by   a  notary. 
The  position  nowadays  is  doubtful.    There  is  still, 
I  believe,  a  titular  Duke  of  Sagan,  but  the  new 
German  rulers  may  have  confiscated  his  possessions. 


THE  END  OF  THE  NINETIES         223 

As  for  the  harum-scarum  Prince  *  de  Sagan  to 
whom  I  have  referred,  he  was  essentially  a  Parisian 
of  the  vie  facile  category.  His  numerous  excesses 
made  him  a  confirmed  invalid  during  his  last  years. 
With  respect  to  his  duel  with  Hermant,  he  asserted, 
quite  correctly,  that  the  latter  had  libelled  him  in  a 
work  called  '  La  Meute.'  Shots  were  exchanged, 
but  did  not  take  effect.  It  was  only  natural  that 
Hermant,  with  his  gifts  of  subtle  irony  and  sarcasm, 
should  have  levelled  some  barbed  shafts  at  so  con- 
spicuous a  degenerate.  If  I  remember  rightly, 
Hermant  then  confined  himself  to  novel  writing, 
but  as  time  went  on  a  series  of  clever  plays  came 
from  the  polished  pen  of  this  born  Parisian. 

The  productions  of  the  Comedie  FranQaise  were 
of  no  very  great  account  in  1896.  There  was  a 
revival  of  Octave  Feuillet's  '  Montjoye,'  given  at  the 
Gymnase  in  1863,  but  so  modified  as  to  be  almost 
a  new  play.  The  pieces  staged  for  the  first  time 
were  '  Grosse  Fortune,'  by  Henri  Meilhac,  so  often 
Ludovic  Halevy's  collator ateur,  and  '  Manon  Roland,' 
a  tragic  glimpse  of  the  great  Revolution,  by  Bergerat 
and  Sainte-Croix.  Elsewhere  Bergerat  produced 
that  year  a  five-act  dramatic  version  of  Gautier's 
'  Capitaine  Fracasse,'  which  Catulle  Mendes  and 
Pessard  had  turned  into  an  opera-comique  as  far  back 
as  1878.  Among  the  musical  novelties  of  '96  was 
a  so-called  pocme  lyrique  entitled  '  Aude  et  Roland,' 
by  Leon  Honnore.  It  was  performed  at  the  Con- 
servatoire, and  attracted  considerable  attention 
among  musical  folk  because  the  composer  had  for 
the  second  time  running  taken  the  first  place  in  the 
Concours  Rossini.  But  the  promise  of  his  early 
work  remained  unfulfilled.  It  often  happens  thus 
with  those  who  succeed  in  competitions.  Many 
"  Grands  Prix  de  Rome  "  have  afterwards  failed  to 
rise  above  mediocrity. 

*  On  the  Continent  the  courtesy  title  of  prince  is  often  borne  by  the 
heirs  to  dukedoms. 


224  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Death  was  very  busy  among  notable  men  in 
1896.  I  have  only  space  to  recapitulate  the  names 
of  most  of  those  who  were  called  away  that  year. 
They  included  Jules  Simon  and  Emmanuel  Arago, 
both  members  of  the  Defence  Government  in  1870-71, 
and  the  former,  in  after  years,  a  prime  minister  of 
France.  Also  Floquet,  another  prime  minister, 
General  Trochu,  who  presided  over  the  Defence 
Government  and  governed  Paris  during  the  German 
siege,  Leon  Say,  the  distinguished  economist,  re- 
peatedly Minister  of  Finances,  Challamel  Lacour, 
sometime  President  of  the  Senate,  and  also  Am- 
bassador in  London,  and  Eugene  Spuller,  during 
long  years  Gambetta's  chief  henchman,  and  for  a 
while  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs.  Spuller  was 
certainly  born  in  Burgundy,  but  he  was  of  Bavarian 
extraction,  and  I  well  remember  his  partiality  for 
Bavarian  beer,  which,  though  he  came  into  the  world 
near  Beaune,  he  infinitely  preferred  to  all  the  fine 
vintages  of  the  Golden  Slope.  Spuller,  like  William 
Waddington,  like  Gambetta  himself,  was  an  example 
of  how  a  man  may  devote  himself  to  France,  although 
he  be  a  Frenchman  only  in  a  legal  way.  Music  that 
year  lost  Ambroise  Thomas,  the  composer  of  the 
imperishable  '  Mignon '  and  other  fine  operas,  and 
Duprez,  the  famous  tenor,  who  after  retiring  turned 
out  so  many  promising  pupils  at  the  Conservatoire. 
Anais  Fargueil,  who  also  died  in  '96,  had  studied 
there,  and  begun  life  as  a  vocalist,  but,  failing  to 
achieve  success  in  that  capacity,  she  took  to  acting, 
and  over  a  course  of  years  scored  repeated  triumphs 
at  the  Palais  Royal,  the  Gymnase  and  the  Vaudeville. 
She  had  long  lived  in  retirement,  however,  before  she 
joined  the  majority  at  the  age  of  76. 

The  literary  losses  of  '96  included  Paul  Arene, 
the  Proven9al  poet  and  novelist,  and  Rogeard,  the 
author  of  '  Les  Propos  de  Labienus,'  some  most 
biting  philippics  levelled  against  Napoleon  III  and 
his  regime,  admirably  written,  moreover,  and  by  the 


THE   END   OF  THE   NINETIES         225 

side  of  which  the  '  Lanternes  '  of  Rochefort  appeared 
trivial.  I  met  Rogeard  several  times  during  his 
last  years,  when  he  frequented  a  quiet  little  cafe  on 
the  way  to  Montmartre.  He  was  very  poor,  but 
very  proud,  and  almost  resented  the  offer  of  a 
consommation.  But  I  have  yet  to  speak  of  Arsene 
Houssaye,  Paul  Verlaine  and  Edmond  de  Goncourt, 
who  also  died  in  '96.  Houssaye  was  born  near 
Laon  on  the  Aisne,  and  beginning  life  as  a  soldier 
fought  at  Antwerp  in  1831.  He  afterwards  joined 
some  strolling  musicians,  and  coming  to  Paris  soon 
made  his  way  there  in  journalism  and  literature. 
Very  handsome,  clever  and  versatile,  he  attached 
himself  to  the  fortunes  of  the  Second  Empire. 
Already  in  1849  the  future  Napoleon  III  appointed 
him  director  of  the  Comedie  Fran9aise,  a  post  which 
he  retained  until  1856.  He  mixed  largely  in  society. 
His  books  were  often  very  witty  and  lively.  In  his 
novels,  however,  he  affected  too  peculiar  a  knowledge 
of  the  workings  of  the  female  heart,  such  as  that 
organ  was  supposed  to  be  among  the  more  or  less 
grandes  dames  of  the  imperial  regime.  But  Houssaye' s 
principal  work  was  his  '  Histoire  du  41eme  Fauteuil,' 
which  treated  of  all  those  who,  by  right  of  genius 
or  high  talent,  ought  to  have  belonged  to  the  French 
Academy,  but  were  never  elected.  His  own  con- 
fessions, like  those  of  most  men  who  claim  to  have 
been  lavishly  loved,  ought  probably  to  be  taken  with 
a  copious  allowance  of  salt.  In  money  matters 
Houssaye  prospered  exceedingly.  He  had  a  delight- 
ful house  in  the  Avenue  de  Friedland,  where  he 
frequently  gave  redoutes,  which  were  largely  fre- 
quented by  actresses,  demi-mondaines,  and  even 
ladies  of  position.  The  French  Academy  never 
forgave  him  for  his  work  on  the  forty-first  fauteuil, 
but,  in  after  years,  it  welcomed  as  a  member  his 
distinguished  son,  Henri  Houssaye,  the  historian 
of  the  later  period  of  the  First  Empire,  who  died  in 
1911. 


226  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Much  of  the  best  work  of  Edmond  de  Goncourt 
was  done  in  conjunction   with  his  brother  Jules, 
who  died  in  1870,  when  but  forty   years  of    age. 
'  Germinie  Lacerteux  '  and  '  Renee  Mauperin  '  were 
their  joint  work.     They  also  produced  together  those 
histories  of  French  society  during  the  Revolution 
and  the  Directory,  from  which  one  may  glean  so 
much  enlightening  information  ;    and  Jules,  more- 
over, contributed  to  the  earlier  volumes  of  the  well- 
known  '  Memoirs.'     These  show  how  deeply  Edmond 
regretted  his  brother's  death.     When  his  own  time 
approached  he  had  only  a  few  distant  relatives  left, 
and  he  therefore  decided  to  bequeath  his  fortune  for 
the  establishment  of  an  Academie  Goncourt,  which 
was  to  be  composed  of  ten  members.     No  poet,  and 
no  member  of  the  French  Academy,  was  ever  to 
belong  to  it.     He  himself  designated  eight  of  the 
first  members :   Alphonse  Daudet,  Gustave  Geffroy, 
Leon  Hennique,  J.  K.  Huysmans,  Paul  Margueritte, 
Octave  Mirbeau,  and  the  brothers  Rosny,  leaving 
them  to  choose  two   others  to  complete  the  full 
number.     Each  member  was  to  receive  an  annuity 
of  £240,  and  there  were  to  be  annual  prizes  of  a  total 
value  of  £200.     After  Goncourt's  death,  however, 
some  of  his  relations  put  in  claims,  and  it  became 
necessary  to  grant  them  annuities.     Alphonse  Daudet 
dying  in  '97,  his  son  Leon  was  elected  in  his  stead, 
and  for  the  other  vacant  memberships  Leon  Descaves 
and  Elemir  Bourges  were  chosen.     Meanwhile,  how- 
ever, it  was  found  that  Goncourt's  fortune  would  not 
suffice  to  pay  the  members  so  much  as  £240  apiece 
annually.     The  allowance  was  therefore  reduced  to 
half  that  amount,  and  steps  were  taken  to  build 
up  a  reserve  fond  of  £8000.     Briefly,  it  was  only  at 
the  beginning  of  1903  that  the  Goncourt  Academy 
was  finally  constituted. 

In  that  year  the  first  prize  was  allotted  to 
J.  A.  Nau  for  a  novel  called  '  La  Force  Ennemie ' ; 
in  1904  it  went  to  Leon  Frapie  for  '  La  Maternelle ' ; 


THE   END  OF  THE   NINETIES         227 

and  in  the  ensuing  year  to  C.  Fourreres  for  *  Les 
Civilises.'  These  awards,  like  later  ones,  encoun- 
tered criticism  in  various  quarters,  and  the  Goncourt 
Academy  was  certainly  subjected  to  a  good  deal  of 
ridicule  during  its  earner  years.  It  was  derided  for 
presumption  and  pretentiousness.  But,  all  con- 
sidered, it  has  been  a  very  harmless  institution,  and 
although  some  of  its  members  have  been  men  well 
able  to  forego  the  allowance  of  £120  a  year,  this  may 
have  been  of  help  to  others — it  certainly  was  to 
Mme.  Judith  Gautier,  the  Academy's  first  lady 
member — whilst  the  prizes  must  have  proved  quite 
acceptable  to  young  and  struggling  writers.* 

Let  me  now  say  a  word  respecting  Verlaine, 
who  as  a  man  does  not  command  esteem.  He  was 
a  Lorrainer,  born  at  Metz,  and  fought  against  the 
Germans  in  1870,  and  later  for  the  cause  of  the 
Commune.  Morally,  he  was  degenerate  and  per- 
verted. His  affair  with  another  character  of  that 
type,  Arthur  Rimbaud,  led  to  his  imprisonment 
for  two  years.  This  occurred  in  Belgium,  whither 
he  had  fled  after  the  Commune.  Verlaine  afterwards 
entered  a  religious  house,  then  came  to  England, 
where  for  a  time  he  taught  French.  As  a  poet  he 
certainly  takes  fairly  high  rank,  vigour  of  expression 
being,  perhaps,  his  chief  quality. 

In  September,  '96,  Paris  was  visited  by  a  remark- 
able atmospheric  disturbance,  suggesting  a  tornado. 
A  violent  wind  swept  down  on  the  Place  Saint- 
Sulpice,  south  of  the  Seine,  crossed  the  river  and 
rushed  on  wildly  as  far  as  La  Villette  on  the  northern 
side  of  the  city.  Vehicles  were  overturned  and 
boats  driven  from  their  moorings,  whilst  shop- 
fronts  and  other  windows  were  blown  in,  shutters 
torn  away,  and  chimney  stacks  and  their  pots  sent 

*  There  were  several  elections  to  the  French  Academy  during  1896. 
Zola  came  forward  as  a  candidate  for  the  seats  of  Dumas  fils  and  Leon 
Say,  but  obtained  only  four  votes  on  each  occasion.  The  new  members 
elected  that  year  were  Andre  Theuriet  (Dumas'  seat),  Albert  Vandal 
(Say's),  and  Gaston  Paris  (Pasteur's). 


228  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

flying  hither  and  thither.  The  whole  affair  lasted 
barely  a  couple  of  minutes,  but  a  large  number  of 
persons  received  injuries  and  eight  were  killed. 
Later  came  some  very  heavy  rains,  followed  by  a 
great  rise  in  the  Seine,  much  damage  being  done 
on  the  river's  lower  banks  and  little  islands. 

The  chief  Parisian  event  in  the  following  year 
('97)  was  a  dreadful  catastrophe  which  occurred  at 
a  charity  bazaar  in  the  Rue  Jean  Goujon.  Already 
in  '85  a  number  of  ladies  had  formed  an  organization 
for  establishing  periodical  sales  and  entertainments 
for  charitable  purposes,  and  during  several  years 
these  were  held  in  one  or  another  private  mansion. 
In  '97,  however,  Mme.  Heine  lent  a  site  in  the  Rue 
Jean  Goujon,  on  which  a  wooden  structure  was 
erected,  the  interior  fittings  including  a  board  and 
canvas  representation  of  a  street  of  old  Paris,  which 
had  figured  at  a  theatrical  and  musical  exhibition 
held  in  '96.  Several  picturesque  stalls  were  arranged 
in  this  make-believe  street,  and  a  kinematograph, 
separated  from  the  rest  of  the  structure  by  some 
flimsy  boarding,  was  also  provided.  On  the  after- 
noon of  May  4th,  when  there  were  about  1500  persons 
in  the  bazaar,  a  fire  broke  out  through  the  ignition 
of  the  ether  used  in  the  kinematograph  lamp,  and 
within  ten  minutes  the  whole  place  was  in  flames. 
There  was,  I  believe,  only  one  exit,  towards  which 
the  whole  terrified  throng  rushed  in  its  frantic  desire 
to  escape.  The  people  present  belonged  chiefly  to 
the  aristocracy  and  the  upper  bourgeoisie,  women 
predominating.  It  was  afterwards  stated  that  few, 
if  any,  of  the  men  evinced  any  degree  of  chivalry. 
For  the  most  part  they  merely  sought  their  own 
preservation,  and  women  were  pushed  aside,  knocked 
down  and  trampled  under  foot  during  the  brief 
scene  of  wild  desperation  which  followed  the  out- 
break. A  hundred  and  seventeen  charred  corpses, 
mostly  those  of  women,  were  afterwards  found 
among  the  remnants  of  the  destroyed  building. 


THE   END   OF  THE   NINETIES         229 

Many  other  persons  were  mortally  injured.  Among 
those  who  perished  were  the  Duchess  d'Alengon, 
younger  sister  of  the  Empress  Elizabeth  of  Austria, 
the  Viscountesses  de  Beauchamp  and  de  Malezieux, 
the  Baronesses  de  Saint-Dizier  and  de  Vatismenil,  and 
the  wives  of  Generals  Chevals  and  Warnet.  General 
Munier  also  was  among  the  dead. 

The  news  of  the  disaster  aroused  feelings  of 
horror.  Paris  became  a  city  of  mourning.  The 
theatres  were  closed,  and,  a  few  days  later,  a  solemn 
requiem  service  held  at  Notre  Dame  was  attended 
by  the  Presidents  of  the  Republic,  the  Senate  and 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  the  Ministers,  the  Corps 
Diplomatique  and  other  personages,  including  Sir 
George  Faudel-Phillips,  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  who 
repaired  to  Paris  expressly  for  this  occasion.  That 
same  morning  it  was  learnt  that  the  Duke  d'Aumale 
had  died  on  his  estate  of  Zucco  in  Sicily,  overcome 
by  the  news  of  the  dreadful  fate  of  his  niece,  the 
Duchess  d'Alengon.  Unfortunately  a  fanatical  monk, 
Father  Ollivier,  who  preached  that  day  afc  Notre 
Dame,  proclaimed  the  disaster  to  be  a  visitation 
of  the  Divine  wrath,  which  ought  to  serve  as  a 
warning  to  all  who  did  not  accept  the  Church's 
teachings.  This  assertion — the  more  ridiculous  as 
many  of  the  women  who  had  perished  were  numbered 
among  the  most  pious  in  France — aroused  general 
reprobation,  and  was  afterwards  denounced  by  the 
President  of  the  Chamber,  whose  speech  was 
placarded  throughout  France.  Baron  de  Mackau, 
who  had  organized  the  bazaar,  and  the  two  kinemato- 
graph  operators,  who  had  contrived  to  escape,  were 
afterwards  prosecuted,  but  incurred  comparatively 
slight  penalties.  To-day,  on  the  site  of  the  disaster, 
there  stands  a  commemorative  chapel,  the  archi- 
tectural plans  of  which  were  prepared  by  Guilbert. 
Decorated  with  sculpture  work  by  Hiolin  and  paint- 
ings by  Albert  Maignan,  it  is  surmounted  by  a 
colossal  statue  of  the  Virgin,  the  work  of  Daillon. 


230  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

The  Dreyfus  Affair  came  very  much  to  the  front 
during  the  autumn  of  '97,  and  Paris  was  more  or 
less  disturbed  by  it.  But  it  was  in  the  following 
year  that  the  excitement  over  the  case  became  wide- 
spread. In  '97  matters  were  still  sufficiently  calm 
to  allow  of  visits  from  the  Belgian,  Bulgarian,  Serbian 
and  Siamese  sovereigns.  That  year  the  French 
Academy's  award  of  the  principal  Montyon  prize 
for  virtue  attracted  considerable  attention,  the 
recipient  being  an  old  woman  named  Jeanne  Marie 
Bonnefois,  who  in  earlier  years  had  earned  her  living 
as  an  acrobat  at  country  fairs,  at  the  same  time 
practising  self-denial  until  she  was  able  to  establish 
various  booth-schools  to  accompany  the  strolling 
players  and  others  attending  the  fairs,  the  object 
being  to  provide  their  children  with  some  rudimentary 
education. 

The  reader  may  be  reminded  that  Baron  de 
Montyon  was  one  of  the  Royalists  who  took  refuge 
in  England  during  the  first  French  Revolution. 
Thrifty  and  careful,  he  contrived  to  assist  several 
fellow  refugees,  and  in  after-life  endowed  the 
Academy  with  sufficient  fnnds  to  establish  prizes 
both  for  virtue  and  for  literary  merit.  One  or 
another  distinguished  man  reports  on  the  awards 
which  are  made,  and  the  public  sittings  held  on  these 
occasions  attract  the  attendance  of  society  in  much 
the  same  way  as  do  the  sittings  at  which  new 
Academicians  are  formally  received  to  the  accom- 
paniment of  speeches  extolling,  or,  as  sometimes 
happens,  artfully  criticizing,  the  new  member's  quali- 
fications and  those  of  his  predecessor.  The  Montyon 
prizes  for  virtue  and  good  deeds  amount  to  about 
£800  annually,  but  they  are  not  the  only  ones  of 
the  kind  which  the  Academy  awards,  for  there  are 
other  foundations  associated  with  the  names  of 
De  Sourian,  De  Gemond,  Marie  Lasne,  Camille  Favre, 
the  Duchess  of  Otranto,  etc.  The  Academy's  literary 
prizes  are  also  numerous.  Those  instituted  by 


THE   END   OF  THE  NINETIES        231 

Monty  on  for  books  considered  useful  to  public 
morals  represent  another  £800  per  annum,  that 
amount  being  awarded  in  more  or  less  important 
sums.  The  most  famous  literary  prizes,  however, 
are  the  two  founded  by  Baron  Napoleon  Gobert,  for 
the  best  works  on  French  history.  Each  of  these 
represents  £4.00,  which  amount  is  occasionally 
divided  between  two  competitors  of  equal  merit, 
and  at  other  times  kept  back  until  the  appearance 
of  some  sufficiently  deserving  work. 

With  respect  to  books  I  must  mention  that  1897 
was  the  year  in  which  Edmond  Demolins  published 
*  A  quoi  tient  la  Superiority  des  Anglo-Saxons  '- 
a  work  which    attracted  widespread    attention,  in 
part  by  reason  of  what  it  said  respecting  physical 
training    among    English   lads.     Paschal   Grousset, 
an  ex-member  of  the  Paris  Commune,  resident  for 
some  time  in  England,  had  already  started  in  Paris 
a  little  journal  for  the  promotion  of  athletics,  but  he 
was  not  making  much  headway  when  Demolins's 
book  appeared.     I  well  remember  that  in  my  French 
schooldays  we  had  little  physical  exercise  in  the  way 
of  sports  and  pastimes.     I  afterwards  learnt  to  fence 
and  did  a  little  rowing,  but  there  was  no  football, 
no  cricket,  no  racing  and  jumping  competitions.     At 
the  close  of  the  Second  Empire  there  were  only  two 
gymnasia  worthy  of  the  name  in  all  Paris.     They 
were  by  no  means  wrell  attended.     Few  young  fellows 
even  learnt  la  savate,  the  French  variant  of  boxing, 
in  which  the  legs  are  brought  into  play  even  more 
often  than  the  arms.     Cycling  was  certainly  taken 
up  with  enthusiasm  by  the  younger  Parisians,  but, 
if  my  memory  is  not  at  fault,  general  athletics  were 
not  patronized  to  any  large  extent  until  the  eve  of 
the  twentieth  century.     On  taking  up  French  papers 
during  these  later  years  the  reader  will  have  usually 
found  them  containing  reports  of  boxing,  wrestling, 
football,  racing,  jumping  and  swimming  matches, 
seldom  heard  of  in  previous  times.     The  societies 


232  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

established  for  the  promotion  of  physical  education 
did  good  work,  however,  and  a  more  vigorous 
generation  sprang  up — as  was  shown  by  the  Great 
War.  During  even  the  most  critical  years  the  athletic 
training  of  the  young  was  not  neglected.  More  than 
once  whilst  Big  Bertha  was  bombarding  Paris  the 
French  newspapers  contained  accounts  of  youngsters 
practising  in  the  suburbs  the  various  sports  and 
pastimes  which  promote  physical  development. 

That  was  as  it  should  be  ;  but  Edmond  Demolins 
went  farther  in  his  book  by  urging  on  his  countrymen 
more  technical,  more  practical  methods  of  education. 
It  may  seem  curious  that  he  should  have  held  us  up 
as  patterns  in  this  respect,  when  so  many  of  our  own 
writers  were  complaining  that  Germany  was  out- 
stripping us.  At  all  events,  what  Demolins  said 
on  this  subject  certainly  tended  to  promote  technical 
instruction  in  France.  Personally,  I  have  benefited 
by  a  more  or  less  classical  education  on  the  old  lines. 
I  never  went  very  far  in  Greek,  but  Latin  became 
to  me  a  veritable  "  Open  Sesame,"  which  unlocked 
the  doors  of  the  languages  of  Southern  Europe. 
Had  I  not  been  a  fairly  good  Latinist  I  should  not 
have  acquired  an  acquaintance  with  Italian,  Spanish 
and  Portuguese  as  readily,  as  easily,  as  I  afterwards 
did. 

Queen  Victoria  went  to  Nice  in  March,  '97,  and 
President  Faure  had  a  brief  chat  with  her  whilst 
she  was  on  her  journey,  the  train  being  stopped  for 
this  purpose  in  the  environs  of  Paris.  Faure  subse- 
quently betook  himself  to  Russia  on  a  return  visit, 
£20,000  being  voted  for  his  expenses. 

The  chief  musical  novelties  of  the  year  were 
Bruneau's  '  Messidor,'  to  which  I  have  previously 
referred,  and  Massenet's  '  Sapho.'  The  Comedie 
gave  Coppee's  '  Greve  des  Forgerons,'  Paul  Hervieu's 
*  Loi  de  1'Homme  '  (performed  59  times),  and  a  two- 
act  proverbe  by  Pailleron,  which  was  afterwards 
divided  into  separate  pieces,  entitled  '  Mieux  vaut 


THE   END  OF  THE  NINETIES         233 

douceur'  and '  Mieux  vaut  violence.'  The  first  secured 
53  and  the  second  63  performances,  which  seemed 
to  suggest  that  violence  was  preferred  to  gentleness. 
The  leading  house  also  treated  us  to  a  revival  of  the 
dramatic  version  of  *  La  Vie  de  Boheme,'  in  which 
Theodore  Barriere  collaborated  with  Murger,  and 
which  dated  from  1849,  when  it  was  first  produced 
at  the  Varietes.  There  were  40  representations  of 
the  Comedie's  revival.  But  the  play  of  the  year 
was  one  performed  at  the  Porte-St. -Martin  theatre, 
being  none  other  than  Rostand's  memorable  '  Cyrano 
de  Bergerac  '  with  the  inimitable  Coquelin  aine  in 
the  title  role.  At  the  Odeon  theatre  there  was  a 
revival  of  Becque's  famous  play,  '  Les  Corbeaux,' 
which,  when  produced  at  the  Comedie  in  '82,  had 
raised  a  storm  of  protests.  Nobody  could  deny  the 
power  of  this  satire  on  the  legal  profession,  but  it 
was  satire  of  excessive  blackness  which  could  not 
succeed  with  any  average  Parisian  audience.  Apropos 
of  the  Odeon,  Antoine  quarrelled  with  his  co-director, 
Paul  Ginisty,  during  1897,  and,  returning  to  the 
Theatre  Libre,  gave  it  his  name.*  Another  theatrical 
movement  had  now  been  initiated  in  France,  its 
object  being  to  give  performances  of  tragedies  and 
operas  in  the  open  air.  The  first  open-air  theatre, 
or  arena,  was  established  in  '96  at  Bussang  in  the 
Vosges.  During  the  following  year  others  were 
inaugurated  at  Orange  and  Beziers  in  the  south. 
At  the  last-named  arena  the  lyrical  drama, '  Dejanire,' 
with  music  by  Saint  Saens,  was  produced  in  '98, 
being  afterwards  transferred  to  the  Odeon  in  Paris. 
Later,  that  is  during  the  present  century,  open-air 
theatres  were  established  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne, 
and  at  Champigny  near  the  Marne. 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  the  Duke  d'Aumale 
died  in  '97.  His  remains  were  brought  to  France, 
and  a  grand  funeral  service  at  the  Madeleine  was 
attended  by  the  members  of  the  Government  and 

*  See  pp.  135,  136.  ante. 


234  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

the  French  Academy,  of  which  latter  body  the  Duke 
had  been  no  unworthy  member.  Further,  he  had 
bequeathed  to  it,  or  rather  to  the  Institute  of  France, 
of  which  it  forms  a  part,  his  splendid  historic  estate 
of  Chantilly  with  all  the  art  treasures  contained  in 
the  chateau.  Alphonse  Daudet,  the  distinguished 
novelist,  whose  pen  resembled  a  rapier,  whereas 
that  of  his  friend  and  rival,  Zola,  was  like  a  bludgeon, 
also  passed  away  in  '97.  Leon  Carvalho  then 
followed  his  gifted  wife  to  the  grave,  and  a  painful 
memory  was  recalled  by  the  death  of  General 
Bourbaki,  whose  army  was  constrained  by  the 
Germans  to  pass  into  Switzerland  during  January, 
'71,  to  be  disarmed  and  interned  there. 

Throughout  1898  Paris  was  largely  given  over 
to  uproar.  This  was  the  year  of  Walsin-Esterhazy's 
court-martial,  of  Zola's  famous  letter  '  J' accuse,'  of 
his  dramatic  trial  in  Paris,  of  the  subsequent  pro- 
ceedings at  Versailles,  and  his  flight  to  England, 
where  I  had  to  provide  him  with  a  safe  retreat. 
Before  then  and  afterwards,  whilst  incident  followed 
incident  in  the  great  Dreyfus  Affair,  Paris  resounded 
with  such  shouts  as  "  Conspuez  !  conspuez  !  Abas 
les  Juifs  !  Mort  a  Zola  !  "  The  Royalist  faction 
evinced  remarkable  activity,  the  "  Camelots  du 
Roi  "  were  mobilized,  money  was  given  freely  to  all 
who  would  assist  in  creating  disturbances,  in  order 
to  cast  discredit  on  the  Republican  regime,  and 
facilitate  the  accession  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  to  the 
throne  of  his  ancestors.  On  the  other  hand,  some 
partisans  of  the  unfortunate  Dreyfus  carried  matters 
too  far.  They  indisposed  the  army  generally,  by 
attacking  the  whole  corps  of  officers,  though  it  is 
certainly  true  that  most  of  the  latter  blindly  followed 
their  superiors  in  declaring  Dreyfus  to  be  guilty. 
At  last,  during  the  month  of  August,  came  the  suicide 
at  Mont  Valerien  of  Colonel  Henry  the  forger, 
followed,  about  the  time  when  the  revision  of  Dreyf  us's 
case  had  been  decided  on,  by  the  bombshell  of 


THE  END  OF  THE  NINETIES         235 

the  Fashoda  affair,  which  for  a  few  days  absolutely 
threatened  war  between  France  and  Great  Britain. 
But  that  calamity  was  happily  averted. 

Whilst  all  those  stirring  incidents  were  taking 
place  certain  features  of  Parisian  life  remained  much 
the  same  as  usual.  The  Comedie  produced  Henri 
Lavedan's  '  Catherine,'  Bichepin's  c  La  Martyre,' 
Paul  Meurice's  '  Struensee,'  and  Brieux'  '  Le  Ber- 
ceau,'  besides  reviving  Paul  Alexis's  *  Celle  qu'on 
n'epouse  pas.'  At  the  same  time  Puccini's  opera, 
'  La  Boheme,'  first  given  at  Turin  in  '96,  came  to 
Paris,  where  it  was  the  better  received,  perhaps,  as 
it  gave  people  an  opportunity  to  talk  of  something 
else  than  the  "  Affair."  The  latter  sundered  many 
friendships,  loosened  many  family  ties.  In  two 
clever  drawings  Caran  d'Ache,  the  great  caricaturist, 
summed  up  what  usually  happened.  In  the  first 
one  a  large  family  party  was  sitting  down  to  table, 
wreathed  in  smiles,  paterfamilias  in  the  meanwhile 
holding  up  his  hand  and  saying  :  "  Above  everything 
else  don't  talk  about  it !  "  But  they  did  talk  about 
it,  as  was  shown  by  the  second  cartoon,  which 
depicted  them  engaged  in  deadly  combat— knives, 
forks,  bottles,  glasses  serving  as  lethal  weapons, 
and  one  fork  even  sticking  in  the  fleshy  rump  of  an 
unfortunate  pet  dog,  whilst  husbands,  wives,  mothers- 
in-law  and  juveniles  expressed  their  conflicting 
opinions  on  the  Affair  by  pounding,  strangling,  or 
stabbing  one  another. 

Death's  scythe  was  as  busy  as  ever  that  year. 
The  news  that  Bismarck  had  passed  away  awakened 
only  retrospective  feelings  among  the  Parisians,  for, 
personally,  he  had  ceased  to  be  regarded  as  a  danger. 
During  the  twelvemonth  art  lost  Puvis  de  Chavannes, 
who,  in  spite  of  faulty  draughtsmanship,  had  won 
celebrity  and  admiration  by  the  harmony  of  his 
compositions  and  the  nobility  of  thought  which  th&y 
revealed.  Another  loss  was  that  of  Charles  Garnier, 
to  whom  Paris,  his  birthplace,  owed  her  Grand 


236  PARTS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Opera-house.  The  casino  and  theatre  of  Monte 
Carlo  were  also  his  work,  as  was  the  Nice  observatory. 
Science  had  to  regret  the  death  of  Dr.  Pean,  the 
inventor  of  the  arterial  pincers,  and  a  great  operator 
in  ovarian  and  other  internal  maladies.  A  medical 
man  who,  about  this  time,  died  in  Italy  at  the  age 
of  91 — he  was  named  Pietro  Pagello — recalled  to  old 
Parisians  memories  of  George  Sand,  Alfred  de 
Musset  and  the  severance  of  their  famous  liaison. 
The  death  of  the  Duke  de  Bassano,  likewise  a  nona- 
genarian, conjured  up  visions  of  the  Tuileries  and  the 
splendour  of  the  entertainments  given  there  when 
he  was  Grand  Chamberlain  to  Napoleon  III.  The 
losses  to  literature  during  '98  included  Ludovic 
Lalanne — Librarian  of  the  Institute,  and  the  erudite 
editor  of  Brantome,  the  '  Journal  de  Pierre  de 
PEstoile,'  and  other  works  pertaining  to  the  Re- 
naissance period — and  Stephane  Mallarme,  the 
decadent  poet,  famous  for  his '  Apresmidi  d'un  Faune.' 
Mallarme  had  partly  earned  his  living  as  professor 
of  English  at  my  old  school,  the  Lycee  Condorcet, 
but  that  was  after  my  time,  when  the  professeur 
d'anglais  was  Spiers,  the  lexicographer.  Neither 
Nicolini  nor  Tailhade,  who  both  died  in  '98,  had,  I 
think,  appeared  on  the  stage  for  some  years.  The 
former,  whose  real  name  was  Nicolas,  and  who  was 
by  birth  a  Breton,  became  the  second  husband  of 
Adelina  Patti.  The  latter,  born  in  Paris,  had  begun 
to  study  for  the  teaching  profession,  but  he  threw 
up  that  idea,  betook  himself  to  the  Conservatoire, 
and  as  far  back  as  1847  obtained  an  engagement 
at  the  Comedie  Frangaise,  where  he  made  his  mark 
as  Macbeth  and  King  Lear,  and  as  some  of  the  chief 
characters  in  Hugo's  romantic  plays.  Tailhade  was 
a  first-rate  actor  of  the  old  school. 

During  the  following  year,  '99,  a  very  notorious 
woman  passed  away  in  Paris.  Few  people  had  seen 
her  since  the  fall  of  the  Second  Empire,  and  indeed 
she  had  spent  her  last  years  in  the  strictest  seclusion, 


THE   END   OF  THE  NINETIES         237 

never  facing  the  light  of  day,  but  hiding  herself  in 
her  flat  on  the  Place  Vendome,  where  the  window- 
shutters  were  always  closed  and  the  curtains  drawn. 
Only  the  dim  light  of  candles  was  allowed  in  those 
rooms,  whose  occupant  feared  almost  to  look  at 
herself,  so  overpowering,  apparently,  did  she  find 
the  loss  of  her  once  belauded  beauty.  The  Countess 
di  Castiglione  had  been  the  mistress  of  Napoleon  III, 
and  some  writers  have  held  that  she  was  placed  near 
him  by  Cavour  in  order  to  influence  his  policy.  I 
have  given  some  account  of  her  in  my  '  Court  of  the 
Tuileries,'  and  her  name  occurs  frequently  in  the 
anecdotical  works  on  the  Second  Empire.  Like 
other  women  of  southern  climes  she  had  blossomed 
and  faded  early,  and  the  thought  that  she  was  no 
longer  beautiful  seems  to  have  preyed  upon  her 
mind.  She  was  sixty-four  years  old  at  the  time  of 
her  death. 

Rosa  Bonheur,  who  died  at  Foiitainebleau  during 
1899,  was  then  in  her  seventy-sixth  year.  She  was, 
I  believe,  the  first  woman  to  whom  the  decoration  of 
the  Legion  of  Honour  was  ever  awarded.  It  was  in 
1841  that  she  first  exhibited  at  the  Paris  Salon. 
Seven  years  later  she  secured  a  First  Medal  for  her 
'  Labourage  Nivernais.'  In  '53  her  '  Horse  Fair ' 
secured  a  like  award.  These  were  her  most  cele- 
brated paintings.  The  stage's  losses  during  '99 
included  two  dramatic  authors — Henri  Becque  and 
Adolphe  d'Ennery,  and  the  Third  Republic's  most 
famous  dramatic  critic,  Francisque  Sarcey.*  Gaston 
Tissandier,  the  aeronaut,  also  died  that  year.  He 
had  lived  long  enough  to  see  some  notable  successes 
in  aerial  navigation,  and  to  participate  in  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Aero-Club  de  France,  which  in  '98  estab- 
lished an  aerodrome  in  a  park  between  Suresnes  and 
Saint-Cloud.  Tissandier  had  been  one  of  the  notable 
balloonists  of  the  War  of  1870-71.  He  quitted 
besieged  Paris  in  a  balloon  and  afterwards  became 

*  See  pp.  49,  50,  aide. 


238  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

chief  of  the  aeronautical  service  of  the  Second  Loire 
Army.*  His  writings  are  well  known. 

I  have  yet  to  mention  the  most  sensational  death 
of  the  year — that  of  President  Faure,  who  after  a 
sudden  attack  of  cerebral  congestion  expired  on 
the  evening  of  the  16th  February.  This  occurred 
at  the  Elysee  Palace,  and  there  was  no  truth  in  the 
wild  rumours  that  he  had  died  at  the  house  of  an 
actress  or  that  he  had  been  poisoned  by  means  of 
cyanide  of  potassium  inserted  in  a  cigar.  He  had 
many  anxieties  at  the  time,  he  frequently  over- 
exerted himself,  he  had  previously  complained  of 
palpitations  of  the  heart,  his  very  appearance,  more- 
over, suggested  a  predisposition  to  apoplexy,  and 
there  are  reasons  for  thinking  that  he  had  previously 
contracted  the  habit  of  taking  some  drug,  which, 
after  serving  as  a  momentary  stimulant,  left  him  in 
a  weakened  condition.  His  anxieties  undoubtedly 
weighed  upon  him.  It  had  been  his  ambition  to 
make  his  term  of  presidency  a  glorious  one.  His 
intercourse  with  the  Tsar,  the  conclusion  of  the 
Franco- Russian  alliance,  had  elated  him.  But  after- 
wards came  the  Fashoda  affair,  by  which  he  felt  his 
prestige  diminished,  and  there  was  also  the  Dreyfus 
affair,  the  great  turmoil  which  it  occasioned,  and  the 
severely  critical  line  which  was  taken  by  virtually 
the  entire  foreign  press.  So  unfavourable  was  the 
whole  position,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  that  the 
prospects  of  the  great  Paris  Exhibition,  projected  for 
1900,  seemed  to  be  compromised,  f 

The  Dreyfus  case  with  its  many  startling  incidents 
and  developments  was  in  particular  an  incessant 
source  of  worry  to  the  President,  who  implicitly 

*  In  January,  1906,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Aero -Club,  a  monu- 
ment to  the  memory  of  the  aeronauts  of  the  Franco-German  War  was 
erected  on  the  Rond  Point  de  la  Revolte  at  Neuilly-sur-Seine.  This 
monument,  which  is  of  a  striking  character,  was  the  last  work  of  Bartholdi, 
the  eminent  Alsatian  sculptor,  who  died  two  years  before  its  inauguration. 

t  A  detailed  account  of  the  circumstances  attending  Faure's  death  is 
given  in  my  book, '  Republican  France,'  pp.  442-448. 


239 

believed  in  the  assertions  of  the  army-chiefs  and 
deemed  Dreyfus  to  be  guilty.  But  only  a  few  hours 
before  his  seizure  he  received  a  visit  from  the  Prince 
of  Monaco,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  they 
conversed  together  on  the  subject  of  Dreyfus,  and 
that  the  Prince  gave  the  President  certain  informa- 
tion which  showed  that  officer  to  be  innocent. 

The  Prince  had  been  particularly  interested  in 
the  case  by  his  wife,  a  lady  of  Jewish  extraction, 
granddaughter  of  the  poet  Heine,  and  widow  of  the 
last  Duke  de  Richelieu.  On  the  other  hand,  he  was 
on  very  friendly  terms  with  the  German  Kaiser. 
The  latter  had  taken  great  interest  in  the  Prince's 
oceanographical  studies,  and  had  often  had  him  as  a 
companion  on  his  yachting  trips.  Now,  at  a  certain 
stage  of  the  Dreyfus  case  some  persons  who  desired 
to  ascertain  the  truth  thought  that  it  might  be 
elucidated  by  utilizing  the  Prince  of  Monaco's  well- 
known  interest  in  the  affair  and  his  friendship  with 
the  Emperor  William.  The  idea  was  to  induce  the 
Prince  to  ask  the  Kaiser  personally  to  make  the 
truth  known.  Dreyfus  was  either  innocent  or  guilty. 
Which  was  it  ?  And  if  he  were  innocent,  who  was 
the  guilty  man  ?  The  facts  were  known  to  the 
Kaiser,  and  it  was  in  his  power  to  have  them  publicly 
revealed. 

The  persons  concerned  resolved,  however — this 
may  have  been  the  Prince  of  Monaco's  advice — to 
address  themselves,  in  the  first  instance,  to  Colonel 
von  Schwarzkoppen,  the  former  German  military 
attache  in  Paris,  to  whom  Dreyfus  was  said  to  have 
sold  secret  documents,  and  also,  if  requisite,  to  the 
German  Foreign  Office,  before  availing  themselves, 
as  a  last  resource,  of  a  personal  letter  which  the 
Prince  of  Monaco  addressed  to  the  Emperor.  It 
became  necessary  for  somebody  to  proceed  to 
Germany,  which  duty  was  undertaken  by  a  distin- 
guished Protestant  man  of  letters.  Setting  out 
with  a  companion,  whose  personality  was  of  no 


240  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

importance,  the  envoy  repaired  to  the  town  where 
Colonel  Schwarzkoppen  commanded  a  regiment. 
The  Colonel  replied  to  the  requests  which  were  made 
to  him  that  he  could  make  no  statement  whatever 
without  the  sanction  of  his  superiors.  If  they  should 
authorize  a  statement  he  would  make  one,  but  other- 
wise, his  lips  must  remain  firmly  sealed.  Accord- 
ingly, Monsieur  X  and  his  companion  went  on  to 
Berlin,  where  they  sought  an  audience,  not  of  the 
Chancellor,  who  was  still  Prince  Charles  von  Hohen- 
lohe,  but  of  Count  von  Biilow,  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs  and,  later,  a  Prince  and  Hohenlohe's  successor 
in  the  Chancellorship. 

Now,  some  time  previously,  Biilow  had  declared 
in  a  speech  to  the  Reichstag  that  "  no  relations  of 
any  kind  had  ever  existed  between  Captain  Dreyfus 
and  any  German  organs  or  authorities"  -  but  the 
French  anti-Dreyfnsites  derided  those  words  as 
being  "  mere  official  utterances,"  and  inquired,  if 
Dreyfus  were  not  guilty,  who  was  ?  The  object  of 
Monsieur  X's  mission  was  to  elucidate  that  point, 
and,  failing  complete  information,  it  was  thought 
that  the  German  Government  might  at  least  be 
willing  to  go  beyond  Billow's  brief  statement  to  the 
Reichstag  and  say  something  which  would  carry 
conviction  with  it.  But  the  Minister  shook  his 
head  ;  he  had  said  all  he  intended  to  say,  and  would 
not  add  another  word.  It  was  pointed  out  to  him 
that  there  was  great  turmoil  in  France  over  the 
affair,  and  that  it  was  in  Germany's  power  to  stop 
it  and  restore  the  country  to  quietude.  Thoughtful 
Frenchmen,  distressed  by  the  harm  which  was  being 
done,  would  appreciate  a  frank  statement  on 
Germany's  part,  and,  indeed,  better  relations  between 
the  two  countries  might  ensue. 

But  again  the  Minister  shook  his  head.  He  had 
certainly  no  intention  of  betraying  the  real  traitor— 
Walsin-Esterhazy — and,  for  the  rest,  he  was,  like 
Bismarck,  only  too  pleased  to  see  Frenchmen 


THE   END  OF  THE  NINETIES         241 

"  stewing  in  their  own  juice."  At  last  the  Prince 
of  Monaco's  letter  to  the  Emperor  was  mentioned. 
The  latter  might  be  willing  to  comply  with  the 
Prince's  request,  in  which  case  the  German  officials 
would  have  to  obey  the  imperial  commands.  Count 
Billow  answered  vigorously  :  "If  you  go  to  the 
Emperor  with  that  letter  I  shall  immediately  go  to 
the  Chancellor  with  my  resignation.  You  will  see 
what  will  happen  then.  In  such  a  case,  That  which 
you  doubtless  wish  to  avert  may  well  befall !  "  By 
"  That  "  he  meant  War. 

The  position  was  too  serious  for  hesitation.  Any 
imprudence  would  involve  the  greatest  risks.  Thus 
the  Prince  of  Monaco's  letter  remained  undelivered, 
the  envoys  returned  to  France,  and  the  Dreyfus 
case  took  its  course.  But  the  Prince  of  Monaco 
afterwards  saw  the  Kaiser,  and,  in  fact,  had  just 
returned  from  Berlin  when  he  visited  Faure  shortly 
before  his  seizure.  To  those  who  knew  of  Monsieur 
X's  mission  the  inference  was  obvious. 

M.  Emile  Loubet  succeeded  Faure  as  President 
of  the  Republic.  There  were  disgraceful  scenes  in 
Paris  when  his  election  by  the  Congress  of  Versailles 
became  known.  On  the  occasion  of  Faure's  funeral 
Paul  Deroulede  and  a  fellow  Nationalist,  Marcel 
Habert,  even  tried  to  induce  General  Roget  and  his 
brigade  to  march  on  the  Elysee  Palace  and  execute 
a  coup  d'etat.  But  Roget  wisely  shook  them  off, 
and  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  who  was  waiting  at  Brussels 
for  a  summons  to  mount  the  throne,  never  received 
one.  M.  Loubet,  who  was  the  object  of  a  brief  but 
violently  hostile  demonstration  on  arriving  in  Paris 
after  his  election,  had  another  unpleasant  experience 
somewhat  later.  A  Royalist  fanatic,  Baron  Henri 
Christiani,  attempted  to  strike  him  on  the  head  with 
a  walking-stick  whilst  he  was  watching  the  Auteuil 
races  from  the  presidential  tribune.  Thanks  to  the 
prompt  intervention  of  General  Brugere  and  M. 
Crozier  of  the  Protocol,  the  tip  of  the  stick  barely 

R 


242  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

reached  M.  Loubet's  hat,  and  Christian!  was  arrested. 
On  the  following  Sunday  (the  month  was  June)  all 
Republican  Paris  turned  out  to  acclaim  the  President 
at  Longchamp.  A  sentence  of  four  years'  imprison- 
ment was  passed  on  Christiani,  but  at  the  end  of  nine 
months  he  was  pardoned  by  his  intended  victim. 

The    affair    led    to    the    downfall    of    Charles 
Dupuy's  ministry,  which  M.  Loubet  had  inherited 
from   Faure,   and  it   was  replaced  by   one   under 
that  vigorous   statesman,  Waldeck-Rousseau,    who 
initiated  a  resolute  Republican  policy,  sparing  none 
of  the  regime's  adversaries.     Deroulede  and  Marcel 
Habert  were  banished  for  ten  and  five  years  respec- 
tively.    Ten  years  of  a  like  penalty  were  allotted  to 
M.  Buffet,  the  agent  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans ;   Jules 
Guerin,  the  most  violent  of  the  anti-Semites,  was 
besieged  in  a  house  in  the  Rue  de  Chabrol,  which 
he  had  virtually  fortified,  and  afterwards  sent  to 
prison,  whilst  proceedings  were  instituted   against 
the  Assumptionist  Fathers,  whose  newspapers  had 
long  been  waging  war  against  the  Republic.     Steps 
were  afterwards  taken  to  deprive  all  unauthorized 
religious   orders  of  the  privilege  of  educating  the 
young — it  being  shown  that  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  children  were  being  brought  up  by  their  clerical 
schoolmasters    and    schoolmistresses    to    hate    the 
Republican  form  of  rule.     The  whole  culminated  in 
the  banishment  of  several  Orders  from  France,  and, 
finally,  the  separation  of  State  and  Church.     The 
eighteenth  century  had  ended  in  wrath  and  strife, 
the  nineteenth  had  begun  in  wrath  and  strife,  and 
now  it  likewise  ended,  and  the  twentieth  dawned 
amidst  grievous  perturbation. 

During  the  summer  of  1899,  Captain  Dreyfus, 
having  been  brought  to  France  from  Devil's  Island, 
underwent  a  fresh  trial  at  Rennes,  where  military 
prejudice  again  triumphed  and  secured  his  con- 
viction. But  his  innocence  was  becoming  more  and 
more  manifest  to  all  impartial  minds,  and  in 


THE   END   OF  THE   NINETIES          243 

September  President  Loubet  granted  him  a  pardon 
which  he  reluctantly  accepted.  He  was  afterwards 
able  to  secure  a  re-examination  of  his  case  by  the 
Cour  de  Cassation,  but  it  was  not  until  1906  that 
this  body  finally  exonerated  him  and  quashed  all 
previous  proceedings.  The  Parisians  followed  the 
trial  at  Rennes  with  unabated  interest,  and  lamented 
that  it  did  not  take  place  in  the  capital.  But  the 
change  of  venue  to  a  distant  provincial  town  at  least 
tended  to  moderate  some  of  the  angry  passions  of 
the  Boulevards. 

For  the  rest  Paris  allowed  no  political,  military 
or  religious  controversies  to  interfere  with  her  amuse- 
ments. The  Comedie  Fran9aise  staged  at  least  two 
novelties,  '  Le  Torrent,'  by  Maurice  Donnay,  and 
5  La  Conscience  de  1'Enfant,'  by  Georges  Devore, 
but  they  were  only  moderately  successful.  Of 
'  Briseis,'  a  posthumous  opera  by  Chabrier,  and 
*  Beaucoup  de  Bruit  pour  Rien '  ('  Much  Ado  about 
Nothing '),  an  opera-comique  by  Puget — a  son  or 
kinsman,  I  think,  of  the  Loisa  Puget,  who  composed 
several  delicate  romances,*  much  admired  in  the 
long  ago — one  can  merely  say  that  each  contained 
some  good  passages.  As  for  Massenet's  '  Cendrillon,' 
which  was  also  produced  in  '99,  it  was  not  without 
merit,  but  in  listening  to  it  memories  came  back  of 
Rossini's  treatment  of  the  theme  in  '  La  Cenerentola.7 
That  same  year  Isidor  de  Lara's  c  Messaline '  was 
performed  at  Monte  Carlo.  It  did  not  come  to  the 
Theatre  Lyrique  in  Paris  until  1903,  when  the 
success  it  secured  was  due  chiefly  to  the  splendid 
manner  in  which  it  was  staged.  A  vision  of  the 
vanished  civilization  of  imperial  Rome  arose  before 
you.  The  clever  book  by  Armand  Silvestre  de- 
served better  music. 

As  I  am  writing  of  the  stage  I  may  mention  that 
a  very  ridiculous  dispute  which  arose  in  '99  between 

*  '  Le  Reve  de  Marie,'  '  Mon  Pays,' '  A  la  grace  de  Dieu,'  etc.    She 
was  a  Parisienne,  born  1810,  died  1889. 


244  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

a  couple  of  literary  men  on  the  subject  of  Hamlet 
had  an  almost  tragical  sequel.  One  of  the  disputants 
contended  that  Shakespeare  meant  the  Prince  of 
Denmark  to  be  fat,  and  the  other  that  he  meant  him 
to  be  thin.  No  agreement  on  the  subject  being 
possible  a  duel  ensued,  and  one  of  the  combatants 
was  very  severely  wounded.  This  was  Catulle 
Mendes,  poet,  critic  and  dramatic  author.  It  was 
he — I  forget  the  name  of  his  antagonist — who  had 
claimed  that  to  play  the  part  of  Hamlet  in  accordance 
with  Shakespeare's  ideas  the  actor  ought  to  be  fat. 
The  last  time  I  met  Mendes — it  was  in  the  foyer  at 
the  Comedie  FranQaise  during  1902 — I  was  struck 
by  his  corpulent  and  bloated  appearance.  I  thought 
of  departed  years  when  he  had  been  quite  handsome, 
I  recalled  that  last  duel  of  his,  and  wondered  whether 
it  was  because  he  had  grown  fat  himself  that  he 
desired  Hamlet  to  be  fat  also.  With  us  at  the  time 
was  a  man  still  in  the  early  forties,  and  physically  of 
a  very  different  type.  Tall  and  well-proportioned,  he 
displayed  the  easy  desinvolture  of  a  grand  seigneur, 
indulging  the  while  in  a  slightly  sarcastic  smile. 
This  was  Paul  Hervieu,  the  author  of  fc  Les  Tenailles,' 
'  LeDedale,'  '  La  Loi  del'Homme,'  and'L'Enigme,' 
and  a  little  later  a  member  of  the  Academy.  He  had 
begun  life  in  the  French  diplomatic  service  for  which 
he  was,  perhaps,  ill-suited,  for  his  talent  was  all 
vigour  and  nettete,  whereas  suppleness  and  ambiguity 
are  reputed  to  be  essential  qualities  for  a  successful 
diplomatic  career.  Mendes  died  in  1 909,  and  Hervieu 
a  year  after  the  Great  War  began. 

That  reminds  me  of  another  matter.  The  first 
practical  submarines  were  built  in  France,  and  on  the 
outbreak  of  the  war,  whilst  the  Germans  claimed 
only  38  (inclusive  of  15  which  were  being  built), 
France  possessed  67,  in  addition  to  nine  which 
were  building.  We  ourselves  had  64,  and  were 
constructing  two-and-twenty  others.  The  earlier 
French  boats  were  those  designed  by  Gustave  Zede, 


THE   END  OF  THE  NINETIES         245 

Romazotti  and  Laubeuf.  Now,  in  1899,  a  vigorous 
campaign  for  the  construction  of  submarines  was 
started  by  the  Paris  press.  The  future  of  these 
craft  was  in  a  large  measure  foreseen  even  then. 
All  sorts  of  wonderful  things  were  predicted,  and  as 
the  Government  of  the  time  seemed  sceptical  on 
the  subject,  one  of  the  most  widely-circulated  news- 
papers, '  Le  Matin,'  ended  by  starting  a  public 
subscription  for  the  building  of  boats  of  the  Gustave 
Zede  type.  This  dated,  I  believe,  from  as  far  back 
as  1885.  Money  poured  into  the  cash-boxes  of 
4  Le  Matin,'  and  I  think  that  a  couple  of  boats  were 
eventually  presented  to  the  Government.  The  im- 
provements effected  in  the  Morse  and  Narval  types 
subsequently  encouraged  Government  building,  and, 
as  I  have  shown,  France  was  well  ahead  of  Germany 
in  regard  to  submarines  when  the  Great  War  began. 
One  must  at  least  concede  that  the  enemy  afterwards 
displayed  remarkable  vigour  in  constructing  so  many 
of  these  craft. 

One  of  the  last  notable  events  of  '99  was  the 
inauguration  on  the  Place  de  la  Nation  of  Dalou's 
great  monument,  the  Triumph  of  the  Republic.  A 
display  of  concord,  at  least  among  Republicans, 
might  have  been  expected  on  such  an  occasion,  but 
so  many  of  the  deputations  which  helped  to  make  up 
the  great  concourse  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  people 
who  assembled  for  the  ceremony,  carried  instead  of 
the  tricolour  the  red  flag,  symbolical  of  extremist 
revolutionary  passions,  that  President  Loubet  with- 
drew, and  the  proceedings  were  curtailed.  The 
unrest  prevailing  among  the  Parisian  masses  at  the 
time  seemed  to  be  very  ominous.  Pure  anarchism 
was  dead  or,  at  all  events,  moribund,  but  by  the  side 
of  the  various  schools  of  Socialism  which  were 
recruiting  fresh  adherents  year  by  year,  the  sect  of 
the  Syndicalists  was  now  coming  to  the  front.  This 
sect  separated,  however,  into  two  divisions,  those  of 
the  Syndicalistes  reformists  and  the  Syndicalistes 


246  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

revolutionnaires.  The  former,  who  gained  the  con- 
fidence of  most  French  trade-unionists,  were  willing 
to  co-operate  with  the  Socialists,  believing  as  they 
did  in  the  necessity  of  political  action,  and  following, 
as  Mr.  Ramsay  Macdonald  says  in  an  interesting 
little  book  on  the  subject,  a  policy  akin  to  that  of 
the  English  Labour  Party.  They  established  an 
organ  called  '  La  Revue  Syndicaliste,'  which  before 
the  War  was  edited  by  M.  Albert  Thomas.  Very 
different  were,  and  are,  the  Revolutionary  Syndica- 
lists. They  did  not  believe  in  ordinary  political 
action.  Anti-state,  anti-patriotic,  anti-militarist, 
taking  class  warfare  as  their  basis,  they  rejected 
Socialism  because  it  had  to  be  either  parliamentary 
or  nothing.  Their  design  was  to  concentrate  their 
efforts  on  what  they  deemed  to  be  practical  questions, 
leaving  politicians  to  destroy  themselves.  Never- 
the-less,  requiring  a  form  of  organization,  they 
adopted  the  usual  plan  of  combining  in  branch  unions 
and  councils,  federated  together  and  represented  for 
general  purposes  by  a  superior  body,  the  whole 
constituting  the  Confederation  generale  du  Travail, 
commonly  designated  in  France  by  the  initials 
C.G.T. 

Mr.  Macdonald  rightly  points  out  that  at  the 
end  of  the  Seventies,  the  Socialists  of  the  school  of 
Jules  Guesde  were  in  the  ascendant  among  French 
workers.  They  believed  in  political  action.  Beside 
them  one  found  first  the  partisans  of  Paul  Brousse, 
who  were  willing  to  ally  themselves  with  the  political 
Socialists,  and  secondly,  the  followers  of  Allemane, 
who  took  a  middle  line  between  the  Broussists 
and  the  extreme  Anarchist  school.  Revolutionary 
Syndicalism  began  to  emerge  from  among  the 
quarrels  and  conflicts  of  these  sects  about  1888,  but 
it  was  only  four  years  later  that  the  principle  of  a 
General  Strike  as  a  method  of  action  and  a  means 
to  bring  about  Revolution  began  to  be  adopted, 
being  favoured  at  that  time  by  a  Workers'  Congress 


THE   END   OF  THE  NINETIES         247 

which  was  held  at  Tours,  and  later  by  one  which  took 
place  at  Marseilles.  Of  course  the  idea  of  a  General 
Strike  had  long  been  current,  but  its  sponsor  among 
the  Syndicalists  was  an  agitator  named  Pelloutier. 
It  was  urged  that  such  a  strike  was  to  be  preferred 
to  bloodshed,  bloody  revolutions  only  benefiting,  in 
the  long  run,  those  who  had  the  army  behind  them. 
The  army,  it  was  held,  showed  itself  to  be  on  the 
masters'  side  every  time  an  ordinary  strike  occurred, 
and  the  Revolutionary  Syndicalist  preached  anti- 
militarism  largely  for  that  reason.  Further,  in  that 
Syndicalist's  mind  the  General  Strike  was  not  to  be 
employed  as  a  weapon  by  which  reforms — the  raising 
of  wages  and  the  improvement  of  conditions — might 
be  obtained,  but  essentially  as  a  means  towards 
absolute  social  Revolution,  class  antagonism  being, 
as  I  previously  indicated,  a  particular  characteristic 
of  le  syndicalisme  revolutionnaire. 

At  a  national  Congress  of  Workers  held  at  Nantes, 
in  1894,  Aristide  Briand,  afterwards  Prime  Minister 
of  France,  upheld  these  views,  secured  the  defeat 
of  the  Socialists  who  were  present,  and  by  doing  so 
promoted  the  establishment  of  the  C.G.T.  In  '95 
a  Labour  Congress  held  at  Romilly  laid  it  down  that 
all  workers  in  a  trade,  whether  they  were  unionists 
or  not,  should  be  subject  to  the  decisions  of  the 
congresses  of  that  trade,  whether  those  congresses 
did  or  did  not  represent  a  majority.  In  point  of 
fact,  Syndicalism,  according  to  the  ex-Anarchist 
Pouget,  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the  C.G.T.,  is  the 
negation  of  the  law  of  majorities,  and  this  has  been 
demonstrated  by  the  composition  of  the  C.G.T. ,  and 
notably  by  that  of  its  Comite  Federal  which  has 
always  been,  in  reality,  a  minority,  governed  by  an 
internal  minority,  the  result  of  peculiar  methods  of 
voting. 

In  1896  an  international  Socialist  Congress  was 
held  in  London.  Syndicalists  attended  it,  but  were 
virtually  ejected  by  their  more  numerous  antagonists. 


248  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Over  and  over  again  there  have  been  attempts  to 
bring  about  an  alliance  between  Syndicalists  and 
Socialists,  but  their  fundamental  principles  are  so 
greatly  at  variance  that  all  efforts  to  promote  com- 
bination have  naturally  failed.  I  may  add  here  that 
Syndicalism  as  known  in  England  differs  very 
considerably  from  the  Syndicalism  current  in  France. 
The  English  Syndicalist  derived  few,  if  any,  of  his 
views  from  his  French  neighbours ;  they  came  to 
him  chiefly  from  the  United  States,  that  is,  from  the 
body  called  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World. 

The  authority  of  the  Confederation  du  Travail 
is  vested  firstly  in  two  sectional  committees,  one 
representing  the  trade-unions,  and  the  other  the 
trade-councils,  and  these  committees  combine  to 
appoint  a  superior  body,  the  Comite  Federal,  which 
is  chosen  only  to  exercise  general  supervision  and 
to  organize  propaganda,  but  which,  rejecting  all 
limitations  of  its  powers,  has  long  imposed  its  will 
upon  the  whole  organization.  It  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  Revolutionary  Syndicalists  in  1901, 
and  they  still  exercised  control  at  the  time  when  the 
Great  War  began. 

A  certain  Georges  Sorel,  originally  an  engineer, 
has  written  at  some  length  on  the  philosophy  of 
Syndicalism,  and  ranks  as  one  of  its  chief  exponents. 
Not  only  is  he  a  firm  believer  in  the  General  Strike, 
but  he  approves  of  caj  canny  and  sabotage  on  the 
worker's  part,  including  the  damaging  or  destruction 
of  the  implements  with  which  he  works.  But,  as 
Mr.  Ramsay  Macdonald  very  correctly  says,  this 
policy,  which  aims  at  destroying  industrial  capital, 
injures  the  workers  more  than  any  other  class,  and, 
by  putting  them  in  the  wrong,  rouses  violent  pre- 
judices, which  defeat  the  efforts  of  every  agency 
working  for  the  emancipation  of  labour.  In  France, 
where  before  the  War  sabotage  was  frequently 
indulged  in,  no  advantage  ever  accrued  from  it  to 
the  workers;  and  as  for  the  capitalists — or  the 


THE  END  OF  THE  NINETIES         249 

authorities  against  whom  it  was  occasionally  directed 
—it  proved,  all  considered,  a  mere  temporary 
annoyance  and  hindrance,  nothing  more.  Aristide 
Briand,  who  at  one  time  acclaimed  the  idea  of  the 
General  Strike,  changed  his  views  even  before  he 
attained  to  ministerial  office,  and  nobody  afterwards 
ever  dealt  more  drastically  with  strikers  than  he 
did  in  the  case  of  the  great  railway  strike  which 
occurred  during  his  first  premiership  in  1910. 
During  that  year  there  were  no  fewer  than  1502 
strikes  in  France,  of  which  only  307  proved  successful, 
as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  table  in  which 
I  give  also  the  figures  for  some  other  years  :— 

Year.  Strikes.  Successful.  Compromised.  Failed. 

1890  313  82                       64  161 

1899  902  205                     360  337 

1910  1502  307                     598  597 

1912  1116  193                     382  541 

1913  1076  183                     371  519 

During  1912  the  men  who  struck  work  numbered 
268,000,  and  during  1913,  220,448.  In  the  last- 
named  year  they  included  82,908  miners,  17,209 
textile  workers,  20,548  metal  workers,  21,996  men 
of  the  building  trades,  and  32,971  transport  and 
similar  workers.  No  fewer  than  682  of  the  strikes 
lasted  only  a  week  or  even  less.  There  were  99 
extending  from  31  to  100  days,  and  16  which  went 
beyond  that  period.*  I  also  find  the  '  Annuaire 
statistique  de  la  France '  stating  that  during  the 
five  years  1898-1902,  the  average  annual  number 
of  days  lost  by  strikes  was  3,010,000.  During  the 

*  It  may  also  be  pointed  out  that  634  of  the  strikes  occurring  in  1913 
were  for  an  increase  of  wages,  and  affected  5807  establishments,  the  men 
who  went  on  strike  numbering  77,418.  Further,  36  small  strikes  occurred 
because  wages  had  been  reduced.  The  strikes  whose  main  object  was  to 
secure  a  reduction  of  working  hours  were  84  in  number,  affected  2091 
houses  and  32,218  men.  Disputes  as  to  the  order  and  division  of  work 
and  workshop  rules  generally  led  altogether  to  96  strikes,  which  affected 
1980  establishments  and  brought  out  nearly  103,000  men.  A  small  number 
of  agricultural  strikes,  in  which  only  7464  workers  participated,  are  in- 
cluded in  the  foregoing  figures. 


250  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

period  1903-1907  the  average  rose  to  4,420,000,  but 
fell  during  1908-1912  to  3,310,000.* 

In  1885,  the  year  following  the  enactment  of 
Waldeck-Rousseau's  measure  authorizing  trade  and 
professional  combinations,  there  were  221  syndicats 
ouvriers  or  unions  in  all  France.  In  1890  they  had 
increased  to  1006,  with  a  membership  of  139,000. 
In  '99  their  number  had  become  2324,  and  their 
membership  419,000.  During  1912  high- water  mark 
was  reached  with  5217  syndicats,  counting  1,064,000 
members.  The  following  year  showed  a  falling  off, 
the  syndicats  being  5046  with  a  membership  of 
1,027,000.  On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  taken  that 
in  1913  there  were  fully  eleven  million  wage-earners 
in  France.  Only  about  400,000  workers  belonged, 
however,  to  the  Confederation  generate  du  Travail, 
and  a  majority  of  these,  say  about  250,000,  were 
opposed  to  the  theories  of  violent  revolutionism 
upheld  by  that  minority  of  a  minority,  the  Govern- 
ing Committee.  Had  the  latter  really  represented 
the  workers  of  France,  what  might  we  not  have  wit- 
nessed during  the  Great  War  ?  I  observe  that  Mr. 
Macdonald,  writing  in  1912,  stated  that  the  Com- 
mittee's official  organ, '  La  Voix  du  People,'  founded 
twelve  years  previously,  had  a  circulation  of  merely 
6000  copies.  That  may  be  so,  but,  as  occurrences 
during  the  war  have  shown,  other  journals  have 
pandered  to  the  Revolutionary  Syndicalists.  Whilst 
Paris  is  the  seat  of  their  organization,  and  they  count 
a  number  of  adherents  there,  some  of  them  engaged 
in  very  important  avocations — as  was  shown,  for 
instance,  by  the  strikes  of  the  electric  light  and  motor- 
power  services  in  1907  and  1910,  when  the  Syndi- 
calist secretary,  Pataud,  ordered  the  city  to  be  plunged 
into  darkness  and  the  tube  trains  prevented  from 
running,  it  is  perhaps  in  certain  provincial  districts 
where  Anarchism  formerly  recruited  many  adherents 

*  The  exact  figures  for  1900  were  3,760,000,  and  for  1912,  2,320,000. 


THE  END   OF  THE  NINETIES         251 

that  the  Syndicalists  are  nowadays  most  numerous. 
Before  the  War  many  were  to  be  found  in  the  northern 
parts  of  France,  afterwards  overrun  by  the  Germans, 
and  others  again  in  the  Lyons  and  Saint-Etienne 
districts. 

There  is  a  co-relation  between  striking  and  boy- 
cotting, and  reverting  to  the  year  1899  I  must 
mention  that  an  effort  was  then  made  to  induce 
business  houses  to  boycott  the  Universal  Exhibition 
planned  for  1900.  This  movement  was  engineered 
by  the  Royalist  and  Clericalist  factions  in  revenge 
for  the  drastic  Republican  policy  initiated  by 
Waldeck-Rousseau.  It  at  first  showed  some  promise 
of  success,  a  number  of  firms  who  had  intended  to 
participate  in  the  Exhibition  announcing  their  with- 
drawal ;  but  patriotism  and  common  sense  ended  by 
prevailing,  and  the  great  gathering  proved  worthy 
of  the  time  which  it  was  intended  to  celebrate — the 
end  of  the  nineteenth  and  the  dawn  of  the  twentieth 
centuries.  Foreign  potentates  were  certainly  absent. 
Not  only  did  the  great  unrest  previously  existing  in 
Paris,  and  only  succeeded  for  a  time  by  a  kind  of 
social  truce,  deter  them  from  coming  to  the  city, 
but  there  was  an  Anarchist  attempt  there  on  the 
Shah  of  Persia,  whilst  King  Humbert  of  Italy  was 
assassinated  in  the  vicinity  of  Monza,  and  an  outrage 
on  the  Prince  of  Wales  (Edward  VII)  occurred  at 
Brussels.  All  considered,  therefore,  the  royalties 
of  Europe  preferred  to  stay  at  home. 

President  Loubet  inaugurated  the  Exhibition 
in  the  middle  of  April,  and  it  remained  open  until 
November.  There  had  then  been  48  million  admis- 
sions, with  receipts  amounting  to  £4,560,000.  But 
owing,  it  appears,  to  the  large  sums  expended  on 
the  side-shows,  the  expenses  exceeded  the  receipts 
by  about  £80,000,  which  had  to  be  provided  by  the 
State  and  the  Municipality  of  Paris.  The  area 
covered  by  the  Exhibition  and  its  immediate  annexes 
was  one  of  nearly  277  acres.  Not  only  was  the  same 


252  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

ground  as  in  1889  occupied,  but  the  Quai  de  la 
Conference,  the  site  of  the  demolished  Palais  de 
Flndustrie,  and  spaces  on  or  around  the  Cours-la- 
Reine  and  the  Avenue  d'Antin  came  within  the 
Exhibition  limits.  Further,  266  acres  of  the  Bois 
de  Vincennes,  situated  near  the  Lac  Daumesnil, 
were  appropriated  to  other  so-called  annexes.  There 
was  a  grand  Salle  des  Fetes  on  the  Champ  de  Mars. 
The  Alexander  III  bridge  and  the  beautiful  Avenue 
Nicolas  II  had  been  completed,  and  in  place  of  the 
old  Palais  de  1' Industrie  two  others,  the  Grand  and 
the  Petit  Palais,  had  sprung  up  in  the  Champs 
Ely  sees  quarter.  The  former's  principal  fa9ade 
fronted  the  Avenue  Nicolas  II.  Above  its  central 
hall,  650  feet  long,  and  nearly  180  feet  wide,  a  dome 
with  a  diameter  of  about  220  feet  at  its  base,  rose  to 
a  height  of  almost  140  feet.  An  upper  storey  was 
given  to  this  Grand  Palais,  but  the  Petit  Palais, 
facing  the  other  on  the  Champs  Ely  sees  side,  and 
occupying  almost  the  exact  site  of  the  old  Palais  de 
I'lndustrie,  was  limited  to  a  ground-floor.  It  was 
handed  over  to  the  City  of  Paris  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  Exhibition,  the  Grand  Palais  remaining  the 
property  of  the  State. 

Before  the  Exhibition  opened,  that  is,  about  noon 
one  day  early  in  March,  Paris  was  alarmed  by  a 
conflagration  which  broke  out  in  one  of  its  most 
familiar  and  popular  buildings.  The  news  spread 
rapidly :  the  Theatre  Francais  was  on  fire  !  One 
of  the  Comedie's  artistes,  Mile.  Henriot,  unhappily 
perished,  but  there  was  no  such  cause  for  widespread 
mourning  as  on  the  occasions  of  the  Opera  Comique 
and  Bazar  de  la  Charite  disasters.  The  accident 
was  certainly  unfortunate,  in  regard  to  the  Exhibi- 
tion season,  bat  immediate  steps  were  taken  to 
rebuild  the  Comedie's  home,  and  so  vigorously  was 
the  work  carried  on  that  two  days  before  the  year 
ended  a  new  Theatre  Francais  was  inaugurated. 
The  programme  of  that  soiree  de  gala  included  a 


THE  END  OF  THE  NINETIES         253 

prologue  written  by  Jean  Richepin,  an  act  of 
Corneille's  tragedy,  '  Le  Cid,'  and  one  of  Moliere's 
comedy,  '  Les  Femmes  Savantes.'  The  casts  were 
brilliant,  the  names  which  figured  in  the  programme 
including  those  of  Miles.  Bartet,  Barretta,  Dudlay, 
Muller,  Amel,  Mme.  Pierson,  and  Coquelin  cadet, 
Feraudy,  Sully-Silvain  and  Paul  Mounet.  Between 
the  destruction  of  the  old  and  the  inauguration  of 
the  new  building  the  theatrical  triumph  of  the  year 
had  been  Rostard's  famous  pla}',  'L'Aiglon,'  produced, 
like  '  Cyrano,'  at  the  Porte- St. -Martin.  Never  did 
the  great  actress,  Sarah  Bernhardt,  display  her  genius 
to  better  effect  than  in  the  part  of  the  unhappy,  short- 
lived son  of  the  first  Napoleon. 


XI 

SOME  PHASES  OF  PARISIAN   LIFE 

Births  in  Paris — Midwives — Assistance  and  Control  of  Poor  Children — 
Allowances  to  Parents — Nurses  and  Creches — Elementary  Schools — 
The  Caisse  des  Ecoles  and  the  Garderies — Professional  Schools  and 
Workshops — Classes  for  Young  Adults — The  Study  of  Foreign  Lan- 
guages— Secondary  Education:  Lycees  and  Colleges — Higher  Special 
Schools — The  University  of  Paris— The  Call  Up  for  Military  Service — 
The  Parisian  Keoruits — Physical  Fitness  and  Exemptions — Marriages 
in  Paris — Recollections  of  my  own  French  Marriage — Attire  at 
Parisian  Weddings. 

IT  being  necessary  to  limit  the  length  of  this  volume, 
I  propose  to  deal  in  another  work  with  certain 
matters  which  I  have  not  space  enough  to  discuss 
adequately  in  these  pages.  Among  them  will  be 
judicial  separation,  divorce,  and  also  the  status  of 
illegitimate  children.  Here  I  shall  only  refer  to  the 
Parisians  generally,  whether  they  be  born  in  or  out 
of  wedlock,  and  follow  them  from  birth  through 
various  notable  phases  of  lif  e  until  they  die.  Leaving 
still- births  on  one  side,  I  find  that  55,257  children 
were  born  in  Paris  in  the  year  1912,  and  that  28,232 
of  them  were  boys,  in  such  wise  that  the  girls  were 
some  1200  fewer  in  number.  According  to  French 
law,  the  birth  of  an  infant  has  to  be  declared  within 
four-and-twenty  hours,  and  the  authorities  are 
extremely  particular  on  the  subject,  as  according 
to  the  regulations  connected  with  universal  military 
service  the  sex  of  a  newly-born  child  should  be 
immediately  verified,  with  the  object  of  preventing 
any  substitution  of  a  female  for  a  male  infant.  In 
Paris  the  verification  is  carried  out  by  one  of  the 

254 


SOME  PHASES  OF  LIFE  255 

so-called  medecins  de  Vetat  civil  attached  to  the 
municipalities  of  the  city's  twenty  arrondissements. 
These  medical  men  verify  deaths  as  well  as  births, 
and  are  therefore  sometimes  called  the  medecins  des 
morts,  but  their  duties  with  respect  to  one's  entry 
into  the  world  are  every  whit  as  important  as  those 
which  they  discharge  in  connection  with  one's 
departure  to — let  us  hope — a  somewhat  better 
sphere.  As  a  rule,  an  hour  or  two  after  the  birth 
of  an  infant  has  been  declared  at  the  district  town- 
hall,  the  doctor  arrives,  examines  the  child,  and 
reports  to  the  authorities.  If  the  little  one  is  a  boy 
he  is  at  once  classed  among  those  who  should 
eventually  be  liable  for  military  service. 

Among  people  of  position  and  large  means, 
medical  men — or  women  * — are  generally  employed 
at  accouchements,  but  the  petty  bourgeoisie  and  the 
masses  still  prefer  the  attendance  of  a  sage-femme  or 
midwife.  It  may  be  said,  indeed,  that  this  pre- 
ference prevails  throughout  France.  In  corrobora- 
tion  of  that  statement  I  may  mention  that  in  1911, 
whilst  there  were  some  20,000  doctors  of  medicine  in 
the  country,  there  were  also  over  13,000  midwives. 
In  Paris,  at  the  end  of  the  following  year,  the  figures 
were  :  doctors,  3944  ;  midwives,  989.  A  few  decades 
ago  the  attainments  of  these  women  were  often 
inferior  and  their  methods  decidedly  antiquated, 
but  great  improvements  have  been  effected  in  these 
respects,  and  nowadays  no  woman  can  practise  as 
a  midwife  without  passing  a  serious  examination. 
This  was  the  more  necessary  as  infantile  mortality 
became,  from  the  national  standpoint,  increasingly 
serious  owing  to  the  great  decline  in  the  birth-rate. 

Besides  attending  accouchements  in  private  homes, 
many  of  the  Parisian  midwives  accommodate  pension- 
naires,  who  are  often  young  persons  in  trouble, 

*  The  number  of  women  doctors  has  been  increasing  for  several  years 
past.  In  1913,  226  female  students  were  attending  the  medical  faculty 
of  the  University  of  Paris. 


256  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

though  in  many  cases  married  women,  for  one  or 
another  reason,  prefer  to  stay  at  a  midwife's  during 
the  period  of  childbirth.  I  find,  indeed,  that  in 
1912,  6724  legitimate  and  4891  illegitimate  children 
were  born  at  the  residences  of  Parisian  midwives. 
In  fact,  and  this  is  a  somewhat  curious  circumstance, 
less  than  half  of  the  children  born  annually  in  Paris 
come  into  the  world  at  their  parents'  homes.*  Over 
10,000  are  born  in  the  various  hospitals,  hospices,  and 
kindred  establishments  belonging  to  the  Assistance 
Publique  service.  There  are,  let  me  mention,  thirty- 
two  hospitals  and  nine-and-twenty  hospital-asylums 
in  Paris  or  its  suburbs,  and  maternity  cases  are 
received  more  particularly  in  a  dozen  of  the  former. 
Further,  the  Assistance  Publique  also  provides  mid- 
wives  in  many  cases  where  the  accouchement  takes 
place  at  home.  There  were  7658  such  cases  in  1912, 
and  in  739  of  them  the  mothers  were  described  as 
being  absolutely  without  means,  whilst  in  other 
instances  their  means  were  extremely  narrow.  Never- 
theless, only  about  a  quarter  of  them  were  lodgers 
in  "  furnished  rooms,"  the  others  at  least  had  fur- 
niture of  their  own — humble  and  scanty  furniture 
undoubtedly. 

The  decline  in  the  national  birth-rate  has  made  it 
imperative  to  assist  parents  and  to  protect  children. 
In  those  respects  I  think  that  the  French  authorities 
have  done  more  than  the  authorities  of  any  other 
land.  In  1912  assistance  of  one  and  another  descrip- 
tion was  given  in  the  case  of  nearly  320,000  children. 
In  some  cases  there  was  temporary  help  in  money 
or  in  kind.  There  were  also  children  forsaken  by 
their  parents,  others  removed  judicially  from  the 
parental  control,  and,  further,  a  considerable  number 
of  orphans,  for  whom  provision  had  to  be  made. 
On  January  1st,  in  Paris  alone,  23,000  boys  and 
21,000  girls — abandoned  by  their  parents — figured 

*  In  1912,  for  instance,  only  25,654  children  (out  of  55,257)  were  born 
at  their  parents'  abodes. 


SOME  PHASES  OF  LIFE  257 

on  the  roll  of  the  enfants  assisted,  which  was  increased 
during  the  year  by  1693  boys  and  1358  girls.  The 
expenditure  in  connection  with  all  these  Parisian 
children  exceeded  £620,000.  Besides  help  in  money 
and  in  kind,  1351  wet-nurses  (nourrices)  were  pro- 
vided, coming  principally  from  Northern,  Central 
and  Eastern  France.  Bethune  supplied  69,  Luzy  62, 
Montreuil-sur-Mer  60,  Montlugon  57,  Alengon  52, 
and  Nevers  40.  At  the  end  of  the  year  over  30,000 
children,  aged  from  twelve  months  to  thirteen  years, 
were  being  boarded  in  the  country.*  There  were  also 
more  than  25,000  pupils,  aged  from  thirteen  to  twenty- 
one.  A  certain  number  of  abandoned  children  were 
claimed  by  their  parents.  There  are  perhaps  a 
couple  of  thousand  such  cases  every  year,  but  not 
more  than  15  per  cent,  of  the  applications  are  granted, 
it  being  found,  in  the  other  instances,  that  for  one 
or  another  reason  it  is  best  that  the  children  should 
not  be  restored  to  parental  control.  I  must  add 
that  by  virtue  of  the  so-called  Roussel  Law,  voted  in 
1874,  steps  are  taken  to  protect  infants  whose  home 
conditions  are  not  satisfactory.  In  the  course  of 
1912  some  4100  infants  were  under  official  protection 
either  in  Paris  or  in  other  parts  of  the  Seine  depart- 
ment. In  these  cases  infants  may  be  absolutely 
withdrawn  from  the  custody  of  their  parents,  and 
this  course  is  occasionally  adopted,  but,  as  a  rule, 
only  official  medical  inspection  and  supervision  are 
imposed. 

There  are  a  number  of  institutions  which  in  one 
or  another  way  make  certain  provision  for  infants 
and  young  children.  There  are  six  hospitals  where 
special  treatment  may  be  obtained  in  cases  of  illness, 
and  thirty-four  subventioned  dispensaries,  which 
exist  chiefly  for  the  benefit  of  children,  treating  all 
sorts  of  complaints,  and  providing  orthopedic  al 

*  The  largest  numbers  were  in  the  Sarthe,  Eure-et-Loir,  Loir-et-Cher, 
Loiret,  Cher,  Aisne,  Nievre,  Orne,  Oise,  Seine-et-Oise,  Seine-et-Marne  and 
Yonne  departments, 

S 


258  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

instruments  and  distributing  sterilized  milk.  Of 
this,  over  66,000  gallons  were  given  away  at  the 
dispensaries  in  1 9 1 2.  Further,  the  Paris  municipality 
maintains  convalescent  homes  for  children  at  Berck- 
sur-Mer,  La  Roche- Guy  on  and  Hendaye.  When  a 
married  couple  in  narrow  circumstances  has  more 
than  four  children  under  fifteen  years  of  age,  it  can 
apply  to  the  Assistance  publique,  which  for  each 
additional  child  makes  a  quarterly  allowance  of 
thirty  francs  (£1  4s.).  No  fewer  than  1783  Parisian 
families  were  in  receipt  of  such  allowances  in  1912. 
There  are  various  special  orphanages,  two  of  which — 
the  Orphelinat  Sainte-Jeanne,  which  accommodates 
50  young  girls,  and  the  Orphelinat  Prevost  at 
Cempuis,  which  provides  for  about  300  boys  and 
girls — are  under  municipal  control.  I  may  also 
mention  the  Asile  Leo  Delibes,  in  the  suburb  of 
Clichy-la-Garenne,  where  both  boys  and  girls  are 
received  for  a  maximum  period  of  three  months, 
in  cases  where  their  parents  have  a  temporary  diffi- 
culty in  providing  for  them.  Illness,  lack  of  work, 
widowhood  and  divorce  appear  to  be  the  principal 
reasons  for  placing  children  in  this  little  asylum, 
which  owes  its  existence  to  the  generosity  of  the 
well-known  composer  whose  name  it  bears. 

Another  kind  of  institution  has  greatly  expanded 
during  the  present  Republic — that  is,  the  Creche, 
which  has  its  utility  in  a  city  like  Paris,  where  many 
mothers  have  either  to  support  themselves  and  their 
children,  or  to  contribute  to  the  household  expenses 
by  working  at  one  or  another  calling.  In  such  cases 
the  question  "  what  to  do  with  the  children  "  requires 
solution,  and  this  the  creche  provides.  Some  creches, 
though  liable  to  official  inspection,  are,  I  believe, 
independent  of  the  municipality,  but  the  latter 
grants  money  towards  the  expenses  of  forty-seven 
of  these  institutions.  At  five  of  them  the  parents 
are  charged  nothing.  In  other  instances  the  charge 
ranges  from  Id.  to  2d.  per  day  for  one  child,  a 


SOME  PHASES  OF  LIFE  259 

reduction  being  made  when  there  are  two  children  or 
more.  Two  of  these  creches  date  from  the  time  of 
Louis-Philippe,  and  a  third  from  that  of  Napoleon  III, 
but  all  the  others  have  been  established  during  the 
present  Republic.*  They  are  all  comparatively 
small  places,  and  the  average  number  of  children 
thus  accommodated  whilst  their  mothers  are  at 
work  is  about  1100  a  day.  There  would  be  room  for 
about  another  500,  but,  as  I  shall  presently  show, 
some  thousands  of  children  are  looked  after  at  the 
garderies  attached  to  some  of  the  schools.  Some  of 
the  creches  open  at  six,  others  at  seven  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  and  the  latest  closing  hour  is  8  p.m. 
Nearly  all  of  these  establishments  contain  both 
cradles  and  beds  ;  and  sterilized  milk  for  babes  and 
suitable  food  for  older  children  are  provided.  The 
State  and  the  department  of  the  Seine  contribute 
over  £4000  and  the  Parisian  municipality  gives  about 
£7400  towards  their  support.  The  payments  made 
by  the  mothers  amount  to  less  than  £2000,  but  there 
are  also  gifts,  legacies,  subscriptions  and  other 
receipts,  such  as  interest  from  invested  capital,  the 
whole  well  exceeding  the  expenses,  which  come  to 
about  £21,000  per  annum. 

Behold  then  a  Parisian  child  born  into  the  world. 
An  official  doctor  vouches  for  its  sex,  and,  according 
to  the  circumstances  of  its  parents,  it  may  be  provided 
with  an  expensive  nourrice,  specially  selected  by  the 
family  medical  man,  or  handed  over  to  one  under 
the  control  of  the  Assistance  publique,  who  takes  it 
off  to  her  home,  which  occasionally  is  in  the  environs 
of  Paris,  but  for  the  most  part  in  one  or  another 
provincial  village.  The  great  majority  of  Parisian 
mothers  do  not  nurse  their  babes,  which,  if  not 
provided  with  nourrices,  are  brought  up,  as  the 
saying  goes,  by  hand,  that  is,  with  the  assistance  of 

*  Eight  during  the  Seventies,  eleven  during  the  Eighties,  fifteen  during 
the  Nineties,  and  ten  from  1900  onward. 


260  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

sterilized  milk,  of  which  much  greater  quantities  are 
used  in  Paris  than  is  the  case  in  London.  French, 
like  English,  medical  men,  prefer  natural  to  artificial 
feeding,  but  many  of  the  nourrices  who  come  from 
the  provinces  are  not  wet-nurses  at  all,  and  cannot 
give  the  infants  the  breast.  I  find  that  in  1891  out 
of  18,892  babies  taken  out  of  Paris  to  be  nursed  in 
the  provinces,  5648  sucked  at  the  breast.  In  1900, 
when  the  total  was  18,195,  only  3728  were  thus  fed 
by  their  nourrices,  whilst  in  1912,  when  the  figures 
had  fallen  to  14,664,  merely  1224  of  those  infants 
received  natural  nourishment.  With  respect  to  the 
nourrices  whom  the  authorities  place  with  families 
in  Paris,  the  figures  are  perhaps  even  more  remark- 
able. In  1894  there  were  561  such  cases,  and  202  of 
the  infants  were  nursed  at  the  breast.  Four  years 
later  that  nourishment  was  given  only  in  121  out  of 
559  cases,  and  in  1912  merely  17  out  of  205  nurses 
were  able  to  give  the  breast  to  the  children  confided 
to  them  !  The  ever-increasing  inability  of  French- 
women to  suckle  either  their  own  offspring  or  the 
offspring  of  others  is  one  of  the  great  physiological 
facts  of  our  times.  I  suspect,  however,  that  matters 
are  very  much  the  same  in  England,  and  even 
elsewhere. 

The  nourrice  d  domicile  engaged  by  well-to-do 
Parisian  parents  is,  as  I  have  mentioned,  an  expensive 
adjunct  to  a  household.  She  may  be  seen  looking 
plump  and  healthy,  sunning  her  little  charge  in  the 
Champs  Elysees  or  the  Garden  of  the  Tuileries,  and 
attracting  considerable  attention  there  by  her  long 
cloak  and  her  coquettish  little  cap  with  its  gold- 
headed  pins  and  its  long  streamers  of  bright,  broad 
ribbon.  At  her  employer's  she  has  a  servant  to  wait 
on  her,  she  enjoys  a  special  dainty  diet,  .at  every 
fresh  incident  in  baby's  life  she  expects  and  receives 
a  present.  When  baby  is  christened,  when  baby 
first  begins  to  recognize  things,  when  baby  cuts  its 
first  tooth,  when  it  is  weaned,  when  it  first  emits 


SOME  PHASES  OF  LIFE  261 

some  indescribable  sound  which  is  sagaciously,  but, 
as  a  rule,  wrongly  interpreted  as  signifying  either 
pa-pa  or  ma-man — on  all  those  occasions  and  on 
many  others  also,  such  as  baby's  first  fete  or  name- 
day,  or  the  chance  arrival  of  the  Jour  de  1'An,  or 
Easter,  or  some  other  festival — it  becomes,  according 
to  tradition,  fit,  proper,  in  fact  necessary,  to  pro- 
pitiate "  nurse  "  with  a  douceur.  A  few  years  before 
the  war  I  asked  a  very  old  well-to-do  friend  of  mine 
connected  with  the  Bourse,  how  much  the  nourrice 
who  had  been  placed  in  charge  of  his  first  grand- 
daughter had  cost  his  son  during  her  year  of  service. 
The  son,  on  being  questioned  by  his  father,  calculated 
that  in  costumes,  food,  wine,  attendance,  laundry, 
wages,  and  presents,  the  nourrice  had  represented 
an  expenditure  of  fully  £350.  That  may  have  been 
an  extreme  case,  but  even  among  the  ordinary  middle- 
classes  a  nourrice  d  domicile  expects  in  wages  alone 
at  the  very  least  £4  a  month,  even  when  she  does  not 
give  the  breast. 

The  young  Parisian  having  emerged  from  infancy 
the  next  question  which  arises  is  that  of  education. 
Something  was  said  respecting  the  number  of  schools 
in  Paris  in  my  first  chapter.*  But  I  must  here  add 
a  few  particulars.  In  conservative  titled  families 
the  practice  still  continues  of  providing  boys  with 
private  precepteurs,  or  tutors,  who  are  members  of 
the  Church,  and  have  often  belonged  to  one  or  another 
of  the  suppressed  religious  orders.  Parents  who  are 
really  religiously  inclined,  to  whatever  social  category 
they  pertain,  also  make  a  point  of  sending  their 
children,  in  the  first  instance  at  all  events,  to  schools 
where  the  teachers  belong  to  one  or  another  of  the 
tolerated  congregations.  All  the  public  schools, 
however,  are  strictly  secular.  In  1912,  177  public 
ecoles  maternelles,  or  infants'  schools,  were  attended 
by  52,427  children ;  12  private  secular  infants' 

*  See  p.  3,  aide. 


262  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

schools  by  1028  children ;  and  12  Church  schools  of 
the  same  category  by  3272,  of  whom  half  were  girls. 
At  the  same  period  the  public  elementary  schools 
(426  in  number)  had  nearly  179,000  children  on  their 
rolls ;  the  private  secular  schools,  46,477  children  ; 
and  the  Church  schools,  or  ecoles  primaires  congre- 
ganistes,  9183  children.  Of  these  last  only  1751 
were  boys,  the  remainder,  that  is  7432,  being  girls. 
From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  whilst  boys  and  girls 
are  sent  in  about  equal  numbers  to  infants'  schools 
carried  on  by  clerical  organizations,  most  of  the  boys 
are  afterwards  transferred  to  secular  elementary 
schools,  the  girls  alone  remaining  under  Church 
influence.  Various  deductions  might  be  drawn  from 
that  circumstance,  but  the  most  remarkable  thing 
of  all  is  to  find,  out  of  289,515  children  in  the  infants' 
and  elementary  schools  of  Paris,  less  than  11,500 
attending  the  schools  of  the  Church. 

There  are  several  interesting  institutions  con- 
nected with  the  public  elementary  schools.  First 
comes  the  Caisse  des  Ecoles  to  which  the  State,  the 
department  and  the  city  contribute  subventions, 
aggregating  nearly  £66,000  per  annum.  The  Caisse 
also  receives  many  gifts  and  legacies,  and  derives 
money  from  entertainments,  dances  and  so  forth,  in 
such  wise  as  to  have  an  income  of  well  over  £130,000. 
It  spends  more  than  £12,000  a  year  on  boots  and 
clothes  for  poor  children,  nearly  £60,000  on  food 
supplied  by  the  school  cantines,  and  considerable 
sums  on  school  libraries,  museums,  holiday  excur- 
sions and  tours,  etc.  I  find  that  over  60,000  pairs 
of  boots  and  56,000  other  articles  of  clothing  were 
distributed  in  1912,  and  that  6,597,806  portions  of 
food  were  given  gratuitously  during  the  same  year, 
the  cantines  likewise  supplying  2,700,982  additional 
portions,  for  which  payment  was  made  at  prices 
ranging  from  one  to  three  sous. 

Several  of  the  elementary  schools  have  garderies, 
where  the  children  are  taken  care  of  in  the  middle 


SOME  PHASES   OF  LIFE  263 

of  the  day,  so  that  they  have  no  occasion  to  go  home 
between  the  morning  and  the  afternoon  classes. 
There  are  also  garderies  for  Thursday  half -holidays, 
and  in  this  wise  the  provision  made  by  the  creches 
for  the  very  young  children  of  the  working-classes 
is  supplemented.  For  those  children  who  are  not 
well  able  to  study  at  home,  evening  "  prep."  classes 
are  held,  and  these  have  an  annual  attendance  of 
about  17,000  pupils.  Further,  there  are  holiday 
classes  with  an  attendance  of  nearly  27,000.  School- 
camps  are  kept  up  with  the  help  of  the  Caisse  des 
Ecoles ;  and  during  the  holidays  of  1912,  678 
excursions  or  little  tours  were  made,  25,400  children 
participating  in  them. 

I  have  not  space  enough  to  enter  into  the  many 
examinations,  certificates  and  diplomas  connected 
with  elementary  education,  but  I  will  mention  that 
a  number  of  burses,  or,  as  we  say,  scholarships,  are 
offered  for  competition  among  those  who  wish  to 
carry  their  studies  farther.  There  are  also  55 
complementary  courses  attached  to  the  elementary 
schools,  including  professional  and  manual  classes 
for  boys,  and  commercial  and  housewifery  courses 
for  girls.  Sixty-six  elementary  boarding-schools  are 
controlled  by  the  municipality,  the  cost  to  parents 
being  no  more  than  20  francs  a  month  for  a  child, 
whose  outfit  is  given  free.  However,  before  children 
are  admitted  to  these  boarding-schools  the  circum- 
stances of  their  parents  are  carefully  investigated. 
The  ateliers  for  training  in  manual  callings  are  very 
numerous.  Boys  are  here  taught  to  be  carpenters, 
cabinet-makers,  locksmiths,  etc.  Further,  there  are 
commercial  schools  of  various  categories,  some  of 
them  of  great  importance. 

Private  enterprise  steps  in  to  perfect  the  training 
of  young  adults.  The  Polytechnic,  Philotechnic  and 
Philomathic  Associations,  the  Union  Fran9aise  de 
la  Jeunesse  and  the  Societe  d'Enseignement  moderne 
provide  evening  and  Sunday-morning  classes,  where 


264  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

lessons  are  given  in  all  sorts  of  subjects,  from  ordinary 
book-keeping  to  aerostatics  and  foreign  languages. 
I  have  observed  with  pleasure  that  in  1912  among  the 
young  people  of  both  sexes  attending  the  various 
language  classes,  those  studying  English  were  by 
far  the  most  numerous.  Four  of  the  institutions  I 
have  mentioned  counted  6654  students  of  our 
language,  against  2195  students  of  German.  All  other 
languages,  Italian,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Russian, 
Esperanto,  etc.,  were  much  less  patronized.  This, 
be  it  noted,  was  the  case  before  the  Great  War 
began,  and  it  was  purely  and  simply  the  outcome  of 
our  entente  cordiale  with  France.  I  have  no  figures 
respecting  the  total  number  of  students  of  foreign 
languages  scattered  through  the  schools  of  France, 
but  I  will  venture  to  say,  from  my  general  knowledge 
of  the  subject,  that  the  study  of  English  predomi- 
nated in  virtually  every  part  of  the  country  at  the 
period  to  which  I  refer.  Looking  back,  I  recall 
how  small  was  the  English  class  at  my  old  Paris 
Lycee — Bonaparte  now  Condorcet — in  the  days  of 
Napoleon  III.  Yet  this  class  was  under  one  of  the 
distinguished  professors  of  the  time,  -Spiers,  whose 
French  and  English  dictionary  is  well  known. 

I  now  come  to  secondary  education  in  Paris. 
A  connecting  link  between  this  and  ordinary 
elementary  education  is  supplied  by  15  municipal 
Ecoles  professionnelles  and  several  Ecoles  primaires 
superieures,  which  are  attended  by  some  10,000 
pupils.  Next,  for  boys,  there  are  a  dozen  State 
Lycees  (two  of  them  in  the  suburbs),  and  also  the 
municipal  College  Rollin.  These  establishments 
counted  over  14,000  pupils  in  1912,  in  which  same 
year  there  were  six  Lycees  for  girls,  a  seventh,  the 
Lycee  Jules  Ferry,  being  added  to  them  during  the 
ensuing  twelvemonth.  All  the  girls'  and  seven  of 
the  boys'  Lycees  were  established  under  the  present 
Republican  regime,  whose  efforts  on  behalf  of  educa- 
tion have  been  incessant  and  unsparing.  In  1912 


SOME  PHASES  OF  LIFE  265 

the  State  expended  no  less  a  sum  than  £11,813,000 
for  educational  purposes  of  one  and  another  kind, 
and  the  budget  for  1914  provided  for  an  additional 
expenditure  of  £2,100,000.  Those  figures  represent, 
however,  only  a  part  of  the  money  which  is  actually 
expended,  for  in  regard  notably  to  secondary  and 
superior  education,  certain  charges  fall  on  the 
departments  and  the  municipalities.  For  instance, 
in  1912,  Paris  spent  £1,450,000  on  education,  and 
received  in  fees  and  so  forth  rather  less  than 
£212,000. 

The  Academy  and  the  University  of  Paris  are 
State  institutions,  the  former  discharging  duties  of 
control  and  inspection  over  the  educational  estab- 
lishments of  the  Seine,  Cher,  Eure-et-Loir,  Loir-et- 
Cher,  Loiret,  Marne,  Oise,  Seine-et-Marne  and 
Seine-et-Oise  departments.  The  university  includes 
faculties  of  law,  medicine,  science,  letters,  and 
pharmacy.  There  are  353  professors  and  other 
teachers,  and  in  January,  1914,  the  number  of 
students  was  19,505,  of  whom  2197  were  women. 
The  nature  of  the  baccalaureat  degrees  has  been 
largely  modified  of  recent  years,  so  that  there  have 
really  been  eight  varieties  of  bachelors  of  the  faculty 
of  letters,  and  five  of  the  faculty  of  sciences.  The 
degree  of  licentiate  follows  that  of  bachelor,  and  is 
succeeded  by  the  doctorate. 

Other  important  educational  institutions  which 
have  their  centres  or  their  homes  in  Paris  are  the 
Ecole  normale  superieure  for  the  higher  branches 
of  the  scholastic  profession,  the  Ecole  nationale 
superieure  des  Mines,  for  mining  engineers,  the  Ecole 
Nationale  des  Ponts  et  Chaussees  for  civil  engineers, 
the  Ecole  Centrale  des  Arts  et  Manufactures,  and 
the  Ecole  Nationale  des  Beaux  Arts.  In  1912—13 
the  last-named  was  attended  by  1289  male  and  96 
female  French  students,  more  than  900  of  the  men 
being  entered  for  the  profession  of  architect.  The 
student-painters  of  the  male  sex  numbered  221,  and 


266  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

the  student-sculptors  145.  The  English  students 
were  but  five,  all  told,  one  of  them  studying  painting 
and  the  others  architecture.  The  United  States, 
however,  contributed  110  fewer  than  60  student 
architects,  besides  three  painters.  Switzerland  had 
37,  Russia  23,  Belgium  6,  Germany,  Italy  and 
Turkey  (!)  each  5  architectural  students  at  the 
school.  Only  nineteen  foreigners,  including  one 
woman — described  as  a  Turk — followed  the  painting 
classes,  and  only  sixteen  (including  four  Russians) 
were  attracted  to  sculpture.  Of  the  96  female 
French  students  80  belonged  to  the  painting,  and  the 
others  to  the  sculpture  classes.  No  woman  of  any 
nationality  evinced  a  desire  to  become  an  architect, 
and  only  one  female  foreigner,  a  Portuguese,  dis- 
played ambition  to  shine  as  a  sculptor. 

I  have  yet  to  mention  as  an  educational  es- 
tablishment the  Conservatoire  des  Arts  et  Metiers, 
whose  exhibition  galleries  of  instruments,  apparatus, 
machines  and  tools  pertaining  to  sciences,  industrial 
and  agricultural  arts  and  crafts,  were  visited  in  1912 
by  nearly  400,000  people.  To  the  library  came 
29,000,  whilst  over  90,000  attended  the  evening 
lectures.  The  laboratory,  where  experiments  are 
made  in  physics,  chemistry,  and  with  metals  and 
machinery,  was  likewise  well  patronized.  The  Con- 
servatoire also  serves  the  same  purpose  as  our  Patent 
Office  and  its  library,  and  all  trade  marks  are  regis- 
tered there.  With  respect  to  the  libraries  of  Paris 
generally  I  supplied  some  figures  in  my  first  chapter, 
and  these  will  have  sufficed,  I  think,  to  give  some 
idea  of  how  both  those  who  read  for  the  purpose  of 
gaining  knowledge  and  those  who  read  merely  for 
pleasure  or  relaxation  are  catered  for  in  the  French 
capital. 

I  have  now  shown  how  numerous  are  the  educa- 
tional opportunities  and  advantages  which  Paris 
offers,  and  I  come  to  another  stage  in  the  young 
Parisian's  life — the  time  when  he  is  called  up  for 


SOME  PHASES  OF  LIFE  267 

military  service.  The  Great  War  has  modified,  in 
fact  obliterated,  many  of  the  provisions  of  the 
military  enactments  which  were  previously  in  force. 
The  Army  Law  of  1905  was,  however,  still  observed 
in  1912,  the  last  year  to  which  most  of  the  published 
figures  which  I  have  hitherto  quoted  apply.  This 
law  changed  the  former  recruiting  system  in  various 
respects.  It  abolished  the  drawing  of  lots  (tirage  au 
sort),  and  rendered  every  young  man  who  was 
physically  fit,  liable  for  service.  But,  whilst  it  also 
abolished  all  dispensations,  it  reduced  the  period  of 
active  service  from  three  to  two  years.  It  gave 
young  men  the  privilege  of  anticipating  the  "  call 
up  "  so  that  they  might  gain  time  for  their  after 
careers.  It  granted  postponement  of  incorporation 
in  certain  instances.  It  incorporated  many  men 
previously  classed  for  the  auxiliary  services  only  ; 
and  it  made  an  allowance  of  75  centimes  a  day  to 
the  parents  whose  sons  could  previously  have 
claimed  exemption  as  soutiens  de  famille.  This 
allowance  was,  however,  quite  inadequate  in  such 
instances  as  those  of  a  widowed  mother  or  an  infirm 
father  dependent  on  the  son's  exertions. 

The  instructions  issued  to  the  army  medical  men 
with  respect  to  physical  fitness  were  extremely 
elaborate,  and  I  can  only  glance  at  a  few  of  their 
provisions.  Exemption  from  service  was  granted 
in  all  cases  of  visceral  tuberculosis,  chronic  eczema, 
impetigo,  extensive  psoriasis,  and  similar  complaints. 
Also  in  cases  of  paralysis  when  it  did  not  yield 
to  treatment.  Adjournment  and  treatment  were 
ordered  in  the  case  of  all  serious  diseases  of  the  ear 
and  the  eye.  Only  in  certain  instances  was  hernia 
admitted  as  a  valid  reason  for  exemption.  This 
was  granted  in  cases  of  arthritis,  ankylosis,  Pott's 
disease,  and  notable  deformity.  Again,  however, 
it  was  only  when  varicose  veins  assumed  a  certain 
character  that  exemption  was  allowed.  On  the 
subject  of  injuries  to  the  hands  there  were  very 


268  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

detailed  instructions.  The  total  loss  of  a  thumb  and 
of  an  index  finger  justified  exemption,  but  if  only 
part  of  the  index  finger,  say  the  top  joint,  was  lost 
and  the  other  joints  could  be  moved  in  a  normal 
manner,  the  man  might  be  incorporated.  In  other 
instances  he  might  be  drafted  into  the  auxiliary 
services.  Club-footed  men  might  also  in  certain 
instances  be  taken  into  one  of  those  services  ;  whilst 
as  for  flat-foot  the  question  was  mainly  one  of  degree, 
absolute  exemption  being  allowed  only  in  very  bad 
cases.  After  reading  the  instructions  given  to  the 
French  army  doctors  in  October,  1905,  I  have  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  many  thousands  of  men 
exempted  in  this  country  during  the  Great  War,  as 
being  physically  unfit,  would  have  been  promptly 
incorporated  in  the  active  army  of  France  had  they 
been  of  French  nationality. 

The  Parisian  recruiting  lists  of  1912  included 
17,410  young  men.  Of  these  924  were  exempted, 
and  12,463  were  drafted  into  the  armed  forces,  to 
which  also  were  added  1774  youngsters  who  volun- 
teered for  service  before  their  time.  The  auxiliary 
services  at  once  received  578  recruits,  and  there 
were  between  sixteen  and  seventeen  hundred  adjourn- 
ments or  delays  granted  for  a  variety  of  reasons. 
Among  the  exemptions  I  find  205  cases  of  tuber- 
culosis and  67  of  heart  disease.  More  than  9000 
young  men  of  the  contingent  were  not  classified  with 
respect  to  their  civilian  callings,  but  2500  were 
returned  as  metal  workers,  over  1700  as  clerks, 
923  as  factory  hands,  752  as  wood-workers,  497  as 
drivers,  ostlers  and  so  forth,  408  as  stonemasons, 
386  as  butchers,  and  399  as  bootmakers,  saddlers 
and  other  workers  in  leather.  In  spite  of  all  that 
has  been  done  for  education  in  France,  70  Parisian 
recruits  could  neither  read  nor  write,  55  could  only 
read,  and  more  than  1000  had  learnt  nothing  beyond 
rudimentary  reading  and  writing.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  14,217  instances  full  elementary  education 


SOME  PHASES  OF  LIFE  269 

was  recorded,  and  in  another  1400  cases  the  recruits 
were  possessed  of  diplomas  or  degrees.  If  instead 
of  taking  merely  the  figures  for  Paris  itself,  one  turns 
to  those  for  the  whole  department  of  the  Seine,  that 
is,  Paris  and  the  suburban  girdle  which  extends 
around  it,  one  finds  that  the  contingent  of  1912 
included  192  recruits  who  were  absolutely  illiterate, 
that  126  could  only  read,  and  that  the  attainments 
of  3045  were  limited  to  mere  reading  and  writing. 
Yet  these  young  men  were  born  as  recently  as  1891  ! 
It  is  more  comforting  to  find  that  853  held  elementary 
education  brevets,  and  that  1233  were  bachelors  of 
letters  or  sciences.  Between  seven  and  eight  thou- 
sand of  the  department's  recruits  averaged  from 
5  ft.  1  in.  to  5  ft.  4  in.  in  height ;  over  six  thousand 
had  a  stature  varying  from  5  ft.  5  in.  to  5  ft.  7J  in.  ; 
and  there  were  but  206  of  5  ft.  11  in.  and  over. 

In  normal  times,  after  his  period  of  active  service 
is  over,  the  young  Parisian  is  drafted  first  into  the 
reserve,  and  later  into  the  territorial  army,  and  for 
a  few  years  he  has  to  join  up  at  stated  periods,  and 
for  some  weeks  renew  his  acquaintance  with  the 
profession  of  arms.  Apart  from  that  little  incon- 
venience, he  is  free  to  revert  to  the  calling  which  he 
followed  before  entering  the  army,  or  to  take  up 
another  one.  He  may  elect  to  remain  a  bachelor 
or  he  may  decide  to  get  married.  In  the  latter  event 
he  comes  to  another  notable  period  in  his  career. 
The  favourite  months  for  getting  married  in  Paris 
are  April,  July  and  October.  At  all  events  there  are 
usually  more  marriages  in  those  three  months  than 
in  any  others.  The  choice  of  April  can  be  under- 
stood, for  it  has  been  stated  authoritatively  that 
in  the  spring  a  young  man's  fancy  lightly  turns  to 
thoughts  of  love.  April  is  not,  perhaps,  always 
spring-like,  but  if  you  have  decided  to  marry  it  is 
better  to  do  so  then,  rather  than  to  wait  for  May, 
which  every  wise  woman  will  tell  you  is,  matri- 
monially, the  most  unlucky  month  in  the  whole 


270  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

year.  If  you  cannot  get  married  in  April,  wait  till 
July,  when,  appropriately  enough,  the  general 
holiday  season  begins.  Why  October  should  also 
be  favoured  by  the  matrimonially  inclined,  I  cannot 
exactly  say ;  but  perhaps  the  approach  of  the  cold 
weather  and  the  desire  for  a  cosy  connubial  fireside 
has  something  to  do  with  its  selection. 

In  1907  there  were  30,300  marriages  in  Paris, 
and  in  1912  the  number  had  increased  to  32,745. 
The  Parisians,  as  is  natural,  marry  chiefly  among 
themselves.  By  Parisians  in  this  instance  I  do  not 
mean  people  who  were  actually  born  in  Paris,  for 
every  year  the  population  is  increased  by  arrivals 
from  the  provinces,  but  those  having  Paris  as  their 
domicile.  That  applied  in  1912  to  29,591  bride- 
grooms and  32,298  brides.  Some  3000  bridegrooms 
were  domiciled,  however,  in  the  provinces,  but  had 
decided  to  take  Parisiennes  as  their  brides.  On 
the  other  hand,  only  421  of  the  brides  married  in 
Paris  that  year  belonged,  by  domicile,  to  the  pro- 
vinces. The  returns  also  include  90  bridegrooms 
and  26  brides  with  domiciles  abroad.  Those  figures 
cannot  represent  all  the  foreigners  who  were  then 
married  in  Paris.  Foreigners  can  obtain  a  Parisian 
domicile,  and  in  such  instances  are  counted  among 
the  bulk  of  the  population.  Others  are  married  at 
their  respective  embassies. 

French  folk  cannot  enter  into  matrimony  with 
the  ease  which  attends  marriages  in  England.  All 
manner  of  formalities  have  to  be  observed.  In  the 
first  place,  parental  consent  is  absolutely  necessary 
up  to  the  age  of  five-and-twenty.  Secondly,  it  ought 
also  to  be  obtained  when  one  is  between  that  age  and 
forty,  but  if  it  is  refused  during  that  period  the 
law  provides  that  one  may  address  at  stated  intervals 
three  successive  sommations  respectueuses  to  one's 
parents,  and  that  if  they  still  remain  obdurate  after 
the  delivery  of  the  third  summons,  their  consent 
may*  be  dispensed  with.  It  is  unusual  for  any  young 


SOME  PHASES  OF  LIFE  271 

man  to  get  married  until  he  has  completed  his  term 
of  service  in  the  active  army.  Nevertheless,  there 
are  instances  when  it  is  advisable  and,  as  a  matter 
of  honour,  necessary  to  marry  before  that  time. 
No  youth  is  allowed  to  marry,  however,  until  he  has 
completed  his  sixteenth  year ;  but  girls  may  marry 
from  the  age  of  fifteen  onward.  Five-and-twenty 
girls  between  fifteen  and  sixteen  years  old  were 
married  in  Paris  in  1912,  when  there  were  also 
162  bridegrooms  whose  ages  ranged  from  sixteen 
to  nineteen  years.  Most  of  those  marriages  were 
probably  due  to  youthful  indiscretion. 

The  girls  who  were  married  between  the  ages  of 
sixteen  and  nineteen  numbered  nearly  3000.  That 
can  be  understood.  By  far  the  larger  number  of 
brides,  however,  that  is,  more  than  12,000,  were 
from  twenty  to  twenty-four  years  old,  81  of  them 
being  young  widows  and  97  young  divorcees.  As  for 
the  bridegrooms,  nearly  13,000  of  them  were  between 
five-  and  nine-and-twenty.  Of  those  who  entered 
into  wedlock  when  between  thirty  and  thirty-four 
years  of  age  there  were,  roundly,  about  6000  men 
and  4000  women.  Between  the  ages  of  thirty-five 
and  thirty-nine  one  finds  about  3000  bridegrooms 
and  a  like  number  of  brides.  The  figures  after- 
wards become  small  by  degrees  and  beautifully 
less.  Some  240  men  were  married  when  they  were 
between  sixty  and  sixty-four  years  old,  but  150  of 
them  were  widowers.  There  were  28  bachelors, 
72  widowers,  and  10  divorces  married  when  their 
ages  ranged  from  sixty-five  to  sixty-nine.  Twelve 
bachelors  entered  the  married  state  when  their  ages 
were  between  seventy  and  seventy-four.  Twenty- 
six  widowers  and  three  divorces  belonged  to  the 
same  category.  At  seventy-five  years  of  age  and 
upwards  no  bachelor  dared  to  face  the  matrimonial 
altar,  but  there  were  12  widowers  and  one  divorce 
who  even  at  that  time  of  life  tried  their  luck  again. 
They  were  certainly  not  downhearted ! 


272  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

Let  me  now  turn  to  the  brides  of  more  or  less 
advanced  years.  Seventy-nine  spinsters,  over  a 
hundred  widows,  and  16  divorcees  were  between 
the  ages  of  five-  and  nine-and-fifty.  Twenty-seven 
spinsters,  70  widows  and  9  divorcees  were  from 
sixty  to  sixty-four  years  old.  Between  the  ages 
of  five-  and  nine-and-sixty  I  find  15  spinsters 
and  21  widows.  No  divorcee  above  the  age  of 
sixty-four  was  remarried  that  year,  but  one  spinster 
aged  between  seventy  and  seventy-four,  and 
another  one  of  five-and-seventy,  had  the  audacity 
to  enter  at  last  into  the  holy  state  !  The  widows  of 
seventy  and  upwards  who  remarried  were  ten  in 
number.  I  may  add  that  the  total  number  of 
widows  who  remarried  was  about  2500,  and  of 
widowers  2850.  The  great  bulk  of  the  marriages 
were,  however,  those  of  people  previously  in  a  state 
of  single  blessedness — in  the  eyes  of  the  law  at  all 
events.  There  were  no  fewer  than  424  bridegrooms 
whose  ages  exceeded  their  wives'  by  more  than 
twenty  years,  and  39  brides  were  similarly 
situated  with  respect  to  their  husbands.  Altogether 
there  were  some  7600  bridegrooms  younger  than 
their  wives,  but  those  who  were  older  numbered 
nearly  23,000. 

Long  ago,  when  I  was  in  my  twenty-eighth  year, 
I  married  in  France  a  French  girl  who  was  still  in 
her  teens,  and  I  well  remember  all  the  formalities 
which  I  had  to  discharge,  as  an  Englishman,  in  order 
to  make  our  union  binding  in  the  eyes  of  the  French 
law.  Those  formalities  remain  virtually  the  same 
to-day.  In  the  first  instance,  I  had  to  procure 
from  London  a  copy  of  my  birth-certificate  and  take 
it  to  one  of  the  interpreter-translators  attached  to 
the  Tribunal  of  the  Seine,  who  made  a  sworn  trans- 
lation of  the  document,  his  signature  to  the  same 
being  afterwards  certified  by  the  Police  Commissary 
of  the  district  of  Paris  in  which  he  resided.  Next, 
in  view  of  the  regulations  concerning  parental 


SOME  PHASES   OF  LIFE  273 

consent,  I  had  to  call  upon  the  solicitor  to  the  British 
Embassy,  who  delivered  to  me  a  "  certificate  of 
custom,"  setting  forth  that  by  English  law  parental 
consent  was  not  required  when  one  was  over 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  I  might,  of  course,  have 
obtained  my  father's  written  consent,  but  that  would 
have  involved  formalities  at  the  French  consulate 
in  London,  and  a  sworn  translation  of  the  consent 
by  an  official  translator-interpreter  in  Paris.  I 
thought  it  a  more  simple  course  to  obtain  the  "cer- 
tificate of  custom "  which  I  have  mentioned.  I 
found  it  necessary,  however,  to  take  the  document 
first  to  the  British  consulate  in  Paris,  where  it  was 
stamped,  and  afterwards  in  turn  to  the  Ministries 
of  Foreign  Affairs  and  the  Interior,  where  it  was 
again  stamped — fees,  of  course,  being  charged  on 
each  occasion.  In  one  way  or  another  I  had  to 
spend  £5  or  so  and  kick  up  my  heels  in  ante-rooms 
for  a  very  considerable  time  before  I  was  in  a  position 
to  repair  to  my  town-hall  and  announce  my  matri- 
monial intentions.  A  document  to  the  effect  that 
I  proposed  to  marry  Mile.  Une  Telle  on  such  and 
such  a  date  was  then  drawn  up  and  posted  in  a 
kind  of  wire-fronted  case  outside  the  town-hall,  so 
that  all  and  sundry  who  passed  that  way  might 
become  aware  of  my  resolution.  A  similar  document 
was  exhibited  outside  the  mairie  of  the  locality  where 
my  intended  bride  was  domiciled.  There  ensued 
a  delay  of  a  fortnight,  during  which  I  was  inundated 
with  offers  from  jewellers,  tailors,  bootmakers,  house- 
furnishers,  and  numerous  other  tradespeople,  who 
all  wanted  to  supply  me  with  unnecessary  as  well  as 
necessary  articles. 

The  civil  marriage  ceremony  is,  on  the  whole, 
a  very  simple  one.  Either  the  mayor  or  one  of  his 
assessors  (adjoints)  officiates,  assuming  for  the 
time  the  gold-fringed  tricolour  sash  which  is  the 
emblem  of  his  functions.  Chairs  for  the  wedding 
party  arc  disposed  in  front  of  the  desk  or  table 

T 


274  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

behind  which  he  stands.  He  reads  to  you  the  articles 
of  the  Code  civil  which  apply  to  marriage  and  the 
respective  duties  of  husband  and  wife.  I  remember 
that  at  my  own  wedding  the  mayor,  addressing  my 
wife,  added  to  the  customary  obligations  that  of 
accompanying  me,  if  I  so  desired,  "  beyond  the 
seas  "  —by  which  he  meant,  I  suppose,  the  Straits 
of  Dover,  I  being  a  British  subject.  The  register 
is  signed  by  the  bride  and  bridegroom  and  four 
witnesses,  two  for  each  party,  and  after  you  (the 
bridegroom)  have  been  handed  a  certificate  (which 
must  be  produced  to  the  priest  if  you  also  desire  a 
religious  marriage  *),  an  attendant  steps  forward, 
carrying  a  little  bag,  and  saying,  "  For  the  poor." 
On  behalf  of  yourself  and  wife  you  drop  a  suitable 
offering  into  the  bag,  and  others  of  the  party  usually 
follow  your  example.  Apart  from  this  collection  no 
charge  of  any  kind  is  made — the  French  civil  marriage 
differing  in  this  respect  from  a  marriage  before  a 
registrar  in  England. 

One  other  matter,  which  I  was  almost  forgetting, 
must  be  mentioned.  In  addition  to  the  certificate 
for  the  priest,  you  are  handed  a  little  marriage-book 
of  eight  pages  or  so,  enclosed  in  a  stiff  paper  cover. 
On  the  first  page  appears  a  duly  stamped  record  of 
your  marriage,  the  ensuing  ones  being  reserved  for 
records  of  the  births  of  your  offspring.  Most  people 
are  aware  that  French  families  are  nowadays  very 
small.  In  the  marriage-books,  however,  with  which 
the  State  presents  you  gratuitously,  spaces  are 
provided  for  the  registration  of  twelve  successive 
children.  This  is  sufficient  indication  of  the  national 
desires. 

In  former  years,  even  in  the  upper  bourgeoisie, 
a  wedding  was  usually  followed  by  a  feast  which 
was  succeeded  by  a  dance.  It  was  not  the  custom 
for  the  bride  and  bridegroom  to  slip  away  on  their 

*  No  religious  marriage  may  be  celebrated  unless  such  a  certificate  is 
produced.    The  civil  ceremony  must  always  precede  the  wedding  in  church. 


SOME  PHASES   OF  LIFE  275 

honeymoon  journey.  They  had  to  remain  on  ex- 
hibition, as  it  were,  for  several  hours,  often  until 
late  at  night.  The  bridegroom  was  expected  to 
dance  with  his  mother-in-law  and  his  wife's  maiden 
aunts,  if  she  had  any ;  and  the  bride,  on  her  side, 
had  to  foot  it  with  virtually  all  the  males  of  the 
marriage  party.  Among  the  lower  bourgeoisie  and 
the  working  classes  the  marriage  ceremony  was 
generally  followed  by  a  promenade  pending  the 
arrival  of  dinner-time,  and  it  was  often  very  amusing 
to  watch  the  wedding  parties  which  drove,  generally 
in  open  vehicles,  to  the  most  frequented  parts  of 
the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  there  to  challenge,  as  it  were, 
the  criticism  of  all  beholders. 

In  the  bourgeoisie  the  men  invariably  wore  evening 
dress,  the  sight  of  which  in  the  bright  sunshine  of  a 
summer  afternoon  gave  quite  a  shock  to  English 
tourists.  But  evening  dress  was  long  de  rigueur  in 
France  on  all  ceremonious  occasions,  and  whatever 
the  hour  might  be.  A  few  years  have  now  elapsed 
since  I  last  attended  a  sitting  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  but  in  the  old  days  the  President  in- 
variably arrayed  himself  in  evening  dress,  though 
the  sittings  always  took  place  in  the  afternoon. 
No  uniform  has  ever  been  devised  for  the  President 
of  the  Republic  (though  Felix  Faure  greatly  desired  to 
wear  one),  and  so  M.  Poincare  had  to  spend  quite 
half  his  time  in  dress  clothes,  even  in  the  days  of 
war.  But  to  return  to  Parisian  weddings,  some 
members  of  the  French  aristocracy  decided  several 
years  ago  to  adopt  the  English  system  of  morning 
dress  on  such  occasions.  For  a  time  the  bridegroom 
was  still  expected  to  wear  a  dress-coat,  but  one 
more  audacious  than  others  at  last  decided  to  be 
married  in  a  morning  coat,  and  his  example  was 
followed.  I  can  recall,  however,  very  grand  weddings 
at  the  Madeleine  when  we  (the  men)  were  all  arrayed 
in  white  ties  and  swallow-tails,  and  would  have 
incurred  ridicule  had  we  shown  ourselves  in  anv  other 


276  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

habiliments.  I  may  add  that  at  one  time  the  diner 
de  noces  was  the  rule  even  in  society  (just  as  the 
wedding  breakfast  was  in  England),  but  this  institu- 
tion was  gradually  discarded.  Receptions  with  light 
refreshments  became  the  rule,  and  the  exhibition  of 
the  bride  and  bridegroom  became  more  and  more 
curtailed.  Briefly,  English  usages  were  gradually 
adopted  by  le  monde. 


XII 

FURTHER  PHASES   OF   LIFE 

The  Law  Courts  of  Paris — The  Conseils  de  Prudhommes — The  Tribunal  de 
Commerce — Bankruptcies  in  Paris — The  Civil  Tribunal  of  First 
Instance — The  Appeal  Court — The  Police  Tribunals — Street  Accidents 
in  Paris — The  Correctional  Court — The  Assizes — The  Anthropo- 
metrical  Service — The  Police  Force — The  Investigating  Magistrates — 
Betting  Frauds  in  Paris — The  Pari-Mutuel — The  Sapeurs  Pompiers — 
The  Parisian  Hospitals — Diseases,  etc.,  prevalent  in  Paris — Asylums 
for  the  Aged  and  the  Infirm — Poor  Relief — The  Lunatic  Asylums — 
Night  Refuges — Temporary  Homes  for  Women — Suicides  in  Paris — 
The  Morgue — Rescues  from  Drowning — Suicides  in  France  generally 
— Funerals  in  Paris  and  their  Classes — The  Civil  Burials — The 
Parisian  Cemeteries — The  Cult  of  the  Dead. 

THE  Parisian  having  become  a  married  man,  many 
vicissitudes  may  be  before  him.  I  do  not  refer  to 
matrimonial  misadventures.  I  shall  deal  with  them 
hereafter  if  I  live  to  complete  another  book. 
But  a  man's  career  may  prove  either  fortunate  or 
unfortunate  in  the  world's  estimation.  He  may 
prosper  or  fail  in  his  business  or  his  profession,  he 
may  become  involved  in  legal  proceedings,  civil 
actions,  and  even  criminal  cases,  and  be  "  wanted  " 
by  the  police.  Again,  he  may  become  an  outcast, 
or  illness  or  accident  may  take  him  to  a  hospital 
ward.  There  are  times  when  he  may  lose  his  mind, 
and  when  despair  or  dementia  may  drive  him  to 
suicide.  In  any  event  he  is  bound  to  die,  and  it 
becomes  necessary  to  convey  his  remains  to  a  ceme- 
tery or  a  crematorium.  I  propose,  then,  to  show 
what  provision  is  made  in  Paris  for  any  of  the  eventu- 
alities which  I  have  mentioned,  beginning,  in  the 
first  instance,  with  the  law-courts,  the  judges,  the 

277 


278  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

examining  magistrates,  and  the  Prefecture  of 
Police. 

The  Cour  de  Cassation,  which  is  regarded  as  the 
supreme  court  of  France,  meets  in  Paris.  Its 
principal  functions  are  to  control  the  decisions  of 
lower  jurisdictions  in  regard  to  any  informalities  or 
other  grounds  on  which  proceedings  may  be  annulled, 
and,  in  certain  cases,  new  trials  ordered.  In  the 
French  judicial  system  the  lowest  court  in  civil 
matters  is  that  of  the  Juge  de  Paix.  Above  him 
come  the  Tribunal  Civil  and  the  Tribunal  de  Com- 
merce, over  which  one  finds  the  Cour  d'Appel.  In 
criminal  matters  (including  misdemeanours,  infrac- 
tions of  the  law,  etc.)  the  lowest  jurisdiction  is  that 
of  the  Tribunal  de  Simple  Police,  above  which  comes 
the  Tribunal  de  Police  Correctionnelle.  The  Tri- 
bunal de  Premiere  Instance  follows,  this  having  both 
a  civil  and  a  criminal  division,  the  latter  of  which 
adjudicates  on  appeals  from  the  Correctional  Court. 
Next  one  finds  the  Assize  Court,  and  the  criminal 
division  of  the  Cour  d'Appel,  from  among  whose 
judges  the  presidents  of  assizes  are  recruited. 

There  are  other  jurisdictions,  such  as  that  of  the 
Council  of  State  and  that  of  the  prefectoral  councils, 
which  deal  chiefly  with  administrative  matters, 
and  there  are  also  the  Conseils  de  Prudhommes, 
which  are  elected  bodies  of  employers  and  work- 
people acting  as  arbitrators  in  trade  questions. 
I  find  that  the  special  bureaux  of  the  Conseils  de 
Prudhommes  adjudicated  in  1911  on  nearly  67,000 
petty  disputes  or  difficulties  arising  between  employers 
and  employed.  In  the  following  year  the  special 
and  the  general  bureaux  in  Paris  dealt,  the  former 
with  28,000,  and  the  latter  with  over  11,000  cases. 
The  matters  submitted  to  them  were  extremely 
varied  in  character.  For  instance,  they  included 
questions  of  apprenticeship,  holidays,  salaries,  com- 
missions, payment  of  piece-work,  fines,  gratuities, 
absence  from  work,  damage  done  to  plant,  lodgings, 


FURTHER  PHASES   OF   LIFE          279 

food,  certificates,  loss  of  time,  detention  of  tools, 
and  bad  workmanship.  Liability  in  the  case  of 
accidents  does  not  come  before  the  Prudhommes, 
but  is  determined  by  the  Civil  Tribunals  of  First 
Instance.  In  1911  there  were  over  40,000  such  cases 
in  France,  but  in  more  than  25,000  of  them  the 
parties  came  to  agreement. 

The  Tribunals  of  Commerce  are  very  important 
bodies,  which  adjudicate  largely  in  cases  of  bank- 
ruptcy, judicial  liquidation,  certain  forms  of  in- 
debtedness, and  so  forth.  I  find  that  1400  bank- 
ruptcies were  declared  in  Paris  in  1912.  Of  these 
202  directly  concerned  the  liquor  trade.  Further, 
66  restaurants  and  hotels  failed,  and  there  were 
212  bankruptcies  in  various  trades  connected  with 
provisions.  In  the  clothing  trades  and  industries 
the  failures  amounted  to  192,  and  there  were  40 
among  publishers,  printers,  and  bookbinders.  The 
metal  industries  counted  98,  and  the  building  trades 
141  bankruptcies.  The  number  given  under  the 
heading  of  banks  and  insurance  companies  is  no  less 
than  47,  but  these  must  have  applied  to  the  small, 
mushroom  concerns  which  constantly  spring  up  in 
Paris,  where  anybody  can  start  a  so-called  banking 
business.  The  number  of  limited  liability  companies 
which  became  bankrupt  that  year  is  given  as  228. 
Of  1531  bankrupts,  only  374  were  natives  of  Paris 
or  its  suburbs,  751  having  come  to  the  capital  from 
other  parts  of  France,  whilst  401  were  of  foreign 
origin.  In  175  cases  the  same  persons  had  been 
bankrupt  previously,  and  123  of  the  Parisians  and 
147  of  the  others  had  at  some  time  or  other  incurred 
sentences  to  fine  or  imprisonment.  The  judicial 
liquidations  were  not  nearly  so  numerous  as  the 
bankruptcies.  There  were  121  new  cases  in  addition 
to  100  left  over  from  1911.  They  were  mostly  con- 
nected with  the  clothing,  building,  provision  and 
beverage  trades. 

In  that  same  year,  1912,  the  eleven  Chambers  of 


280  PARIS  AND  HER   PEOPLE 

the  Civil  Tribunal  of  First  Instance  had  23,457  new 
suits  submitted  to  them,  and  there  were  14,000 
remaining  from  the  previous  twelvemonth.  The 
number  of  cases  in  which  judgment  was  finally 
given  in  1912  was  26,301.*  This  was  the  work  of 
136  presiding,  assistant  and  supplementary  judges, 
sitting  for  five  hours  on  six  days  of  the  week.  The 
advocates  included  in  the  Tribunal's  roll  were 
no  fewer  than  1530  ;  the  avoues  or  solicitors  were 
150,  and  there  was  a  like  number  of  notaries  and  also 
of  huissiers  or  process  servers.  It  may  be  added  that 
nearly  218,000  notarial  documents  were  produced  in 
connection  with  the  various  cases,  that  there  were 
over  22,000  applications  for  "  legal  assistance  "  on 
the  part  of  poor  plaintiffs  or  defendants,  and  that 
about  half  of  the  number  were  granted. 

With  respect  to  the  Paris  Appeal  Court,  I  have 
only  the  figures  for  1911,  and  as  this  Court's  jurisdic- 
tion extends  over  six  departments  besides  that  of 
the  Seine,  it  follows  that  only  part  of  the  cases  on 
which  it  adjudicates  are  Parisian  ones.  In  1911  the 
Court  was  called  upon  to  deal  with  over  10,000  suits, 
rather  more  than  half  that  number  being  cases  of 
general  civil  law  and  the  others  strictly  commercial 
cases.  Altogether,  the  Court  succeeded  in  dis- 
posing of  4466  civil  appeals.  It  also  gave  judgment, 
however,  in  over  5300  appeals  from  the  sentences 
of  Correctional  Tribunals,  confirming  these  sentences 
in  nearly  4000  instances  and  modifying  or  annulling 
them  in  1358. 

This  brings  me  to  what  one  may  call  the  criminal 
side  of  the  law.  The  Paris  Tribunal  de  Simple 
Police  exercises  jurisdiction,  however,  not  exactly  in 
criminal  offences,  but  in  cases  which  are  delinquencies 
or  infractions  of  the  law  or  the  police  regulations. 
In  the  suburbs  of  the  city  are  found  several  other 
Tribunals  of  Simple  Police,  the  total  number  for 
the  Seine  department  being  twenty-three.  I  find 

*  In  1911  the  number  was  over  34,000. 


FURTHER  PHASES   OF  LIFE          281 

that  in  1912  they  sat  in  judgment  on  no  fewer  than 
64,215  offenders,  and  acquitted  only  454  of  them. 
There  were  but  360  appeals,  all  of  which,  excepting 
four-and-twenty,  were  rejected.  The  greater  number 
of  cases  (more  than  22,000)  were  contraventions  of 
the  laws  and  regulations  respecting  public  safety 
and  tranquillity.  The  chauffeurs,  cabmen  and  other 
drivers  punished  by  these  tribunals  for  imperilling 
the  public  safety  were  amazingly  few — being  indeed 
but  58  all  told  !  Yet  that  same  year  22,319  street 
accidents  caused  by  vehicles  occurred  in  Paris. 
Of  these  9324  were  brought  about  by  tramcars, 
and  8338  by  taxicabs  and  other  motor  vehicles. 
The  greater  number  of  victims  were  between  15  and 
60  years  of  age.  Altogether  74  males  and  31  females 
were  killed,  15,326  males  and  6888  females  being 
injured.  If  the  drivers  arraigned  before  the  Tri- 
bunals of  Simple  Police  were  so  few  this  must  be 
due  to  the  fact  that  most  offenders  of  this  class 
were  arraigned  before  higher  jurisdictions,  either 
the  Correctional  Tribunal  of  First  Instance  or 
the  Assize  Court,  to  which  I  am  about  to  refer. 
Respecting  the  Simple  Police  tribunals,  I  need  only 
add  that  some  6700  of  the  cases  with  which  they 
dealt  were  infractions  of  the  laws  and  regulations 
respecting  public  property  and  salubrity. 

Coming  now  to  the  Correctional  Court  of  Paris, 
I  notice  that  whereas  in  1905  some  22,000  defendants 
appeared  before  it,  the  number  had  increased  in 
1912  to  nearly  35,000.  This  Tribunal  has  power 
to  try  juvenile  offenders,  and  to  send  them  to 
houses  of  correction,  otherwise  reformatories.  In 
1905  it  restored  54  juveniles  (under  16  years  of  age) 
to  their  parents  as  having  acted  without  discernment, 
and  sent  98  to  houses  of  correction.  In  1912  those 
figures  had  increased  to  550  and  701.  Nearly 
22,500  defendants  of  all  ages  were  sentenced  to 
imprisonment,  9700  were  fined,  and  1116  were 
forbidden  to  reside  in  Paris.  I  must  add,  however, 


282  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

that  there  were  a  very  large  number  of  "  first  offences," 
and  that  in  over  13,000  instances  the  sentences 
(generally  those  to  imprisonment)  were  suspended 
during  good  behaviour. 

More  cases — that  is,  387 — were  submitted  to 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Paris  or  Seine  Assize  Court 
in  1908  than  in  any  other  year  of  the  present  century. 
In  1912  the  number  was  292.  In  73  instances  the 
charges  were  not  proceeded  with,  the  reports  of  the 
investigating  magistrates  being  favourable  to  the 
accused.  Moreover,  various  charges  were  modified, 
being  reduced  from  felonies  to  misdemeanours. 
There  were  149  instances  in  which  the  jury  admitted 
the  existence  of  extenuating  circumstances  in  the 
prisoners'  favour,  and  large  as  that  number  may 
appear  to  be,  it  was  lower  than  the  figures  of  previous 
years.  In  1905,  ten  prisoners  were  sentenced  to 
death  in  Paris,  that  being  the  largest  number  in 
any  one  year  since  1900.  In  1912  capital  punish- 
ment was  pronounced  in  only  four  instances.  Hard 
labour  for  life  was  the  sentence  imposed  in  16  cases, 
and  hard  labour  for  various  terms  in  57.  There 
were  also  57  instances  in  which  reclusion  or  soli- 
tary confinement  became  the  sentence.  The  other 
penalties  applied  to  misdemeanours  and  were  of  a 
lighter  character. 

I  find  that  in  1911,  158  persons  were  indicted  for 
murder  before  the  various  Assize  Courts  of  France, 
and  that  37  of  them  were  acquitted.  In  the  earlier 
years  of  the  Republic  the  charges  of  rape  and  in- 
decent assault  in  various  parts  of  France  averaged 
some  900  annually.  In  1911  there  were  but  400 
such  cases.  From  1880  onward,  whilst  the  returns 
indicate  an  increasing  number  of  Assize  affairs, 
the  instances  in  which  the  investigating  magistrates 
report  in  favour  of  the  accused  are  also  more  nume- 
rous. So-called  crimes  against  property  are  likewise 
decreasing,  and  between  1907  and  1911  there  was 
a  decided  drop  in  the  number  of  Assize  prisoners 


FURTHER  PHASES  OF  LIFE  283 

under  twenty -one  years  of  age,  the  figures  for  the 
first  year  being  708  and  for  the  second  506.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  number  of  individuals  charged 
before  the  Correctional  Courts  with  common  theft 
rose  from  40,000  to  44,000,  and  in  nearly  40,000  of 
239,000  cases  tried  by  those  courts  the  prisoners 
were  minors.  In  1911  the  Loi  de  Sursis  was  applied 
in  nearly  39,000  instances,  the  execution  of  the 
sentence  thereby  being  suspended  during  good 
behaviour,  and  in  only  756  cases  during  that  twelve- 
month was  there  occasion  to  revoke  the  sursis. 
In  fact,  the  Loi  de  Sursis  has  proved  a  great  success. 
Moreover,  the  number  of  old  offenders  (recidivistes) 
steadily  decreases. 

The  well-known  Paris  anthropometrical  service 
took  the  finger-prints,  measurements,  portraits,  etc., 
of  25,000  individuals  during  1912,  and  in  more  than 
half  of  these  cases  it  was  found  that  the  prisoners 
had  previously  come  before  the  identification  service 
either  under  the  same  names  or  under  others. 
Nearly  3000  of  the  prisoners  were  foreigners.  Among 
them  I  find  559  Germans,  122  Austro-Hungarians, 
543  Italians,  550  Belgians,  239  Switzers,  203 
Spaniards,  192  Russians,  92  Americans  (North  and 
South),  and  67  British  subjects,  three  of  the  last- 
named  being  Australasians.  Among  480  prisoners 
arrested  in  Paris  whose  expulsion  from  France  was 
ordered,  there  were  only  four  Britishers,  but  this 
step  was  taken  in  the  case  of  115  Italians,  67  Belgians, 
and  93  Germans.  Nearly  200  of  the  foreigners 
thus  expelled  the  country  were  common  thieves, 
53  had  committed  violent  assaults,  31  lived  on 
women,  19  were  concerned  in  the  white  slave  traffic, 
and  90  were  classed  as  vagabonds  or  beggars. 

The  French  police  of  all  categories  is  an  extremely 
large  force.  In  1911  it  included  21,000  gendarmes, 
912  commissaries  of  police,  17,980  gardiens  de  la 
paix  and  detectives,  nearly  32,000  rural  guards 
(gardes  champetres),  7270  forest  guards,  2450  fishery 


284  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

guards,  and  over  46,000  others  of  various  kinds. 
In  the  Seine  department  alone  there  were  128  com- 
missaires,  7900  policemen  (inclusive  of  detectives), 
470  gendarmes  (apart  from  the  Garde  Republicaine), 
and  118  rural  guards.  The  direct  authority  of  the 
Prefecture  of  Police  extends  to  other  departments, 
so  that  it  has  many  additional  men  at  its  disposal. 
It  is  an  expensive  institution,  and  in  1912  cost  about 
£1,760,000,  to  which  the  State  contributed  nearly 
£640,000.  On  the  Garde  Republicaine,  approxi- 
mately 3000  strong,  the  city  of  Paris  expended  nearly 
£138,000  that  same  year. 

English  people  taking  an  interest  in  French 
criminal  cases  will  often  have  read  of  the  investi- 
gating magistrates  who  in  the  first  instance  examine 
prisoners  and  take  the  evidence  of  witnesses.  They 
decide  whether  a  prima  facie  case  is  made  out  or  not, 
and  according  to  their  report  a  prisoner  is  sent  for 
trial  or  discharged.  It  is  true  that  in  Assize  cases, 
which  include  all  the  more  serious  offences,  the 
charges  are  submitted  to  a  judicial  body  known  as 
the  "  Chambre  des  mises  en  accusation,"  which 
(discharging  the  functions  of  our  grand  juries) 
may  confirm  or  reject  the  decisions  of  the  investi- 
gating magistrates.  In  practice  it  usually  confirms 
them,  but  there  are  occasionally  instances  in 
which  it  acts  otherwise,  and  at  all  events  nobody 
has  to  stand  a  trial  for  felony  until  both  the  in- 
vestigating magistrate  and  the  "  Chambre  des  mises 
en  accusation  "  have  examined  all  the  aspects  of 
the  case.  I  well  remember  the  occasion,  long  years 
ago,  when  I  first  appeared  before  an  investigating 
magistrate.  I  went  at  his  request  to  give  him 
certain  information.  I  was  directed  to  one  of  the 
upper  floors  of  the  Palais  de  Justice,  and  reached  a 
long  gallery  having  on  one  side  several  windows 
overlooking  a  courtyard,  whilst  on  the  other  hand 
were  a  number  of  doors  each  bearing  a  number. 
An  attendant,  a  Garde  Republican!,  if  I  remember 


285 

rightly,  inquired  my  business,  took  my  card,  knocked 
at  one  of  the  doors,  and  entered  the  room  by  which 
it  was  reached,  leaving  me  in  the  gallery.  But  he 
speedih'  returned,  asking  me  to  follow  him,  and  a 
moment  later  I  found  myself  in  the  presence  of  the 
magistrate  who  had  written  to  me.  He  was  seated 
at  a  large  table  near  a  window  in  a  very  spacious 
apartment,  and  was  quite  alone,  having  dismissed 
his  clerk,  of  whose  chair  I  availed  myself. 

The  matter  which  had  taken  me  to  the  Palais 
de  Justice  that  day  was  one  of  some  interest.  A 
few  years  previously  I  had  been  of  a  little  assist- 
ance in  the  case  of  Benson  and  his  gang,  who  de- 
frauded the  Countess  de  Goncourt  by  means  of  a 
great  betting  swindle — the  affair  afterwards  leading 
to  the  prosecution  of  some  English  detective  officers 
— Meiklejohn  and  Druscovitch — for  accepting  bribes. 
What  happened  with  regard  to  myself  in  the  Benson 
affair  was  very  simple.  As  Paris  correspondent 
of  the  'Illustrated  Sporting  and  Dramatic  News,' 
I  frequently  had  occasion  to  consult  the  French 
journals  which  dealt  more  particularly  with  racing. 
One  week-end,  then,  I  noticed  in  *  Le  Sport '  a  large 
displayed  advertisement  emanating  from  an  English 
firm  who  styled  themselves  "Archer  &  Co."  It 
was  an  invitation  to  send  them  money  for  betting 
purposes,  and  unfolded  a  scheme  by  which  heaps 
of  money  might  be  made  without  any  possibility 
of  loss.  This  was,  of  course,  merely  a  device  to 
catch  "  flats "  and  greenhorns,  and  immediately 
I  had  read  the  advertisement  I  divined  its  fraudulent 
intention.  I  spoke  on  the  subject  to  my  father, 
with  whom  I  was  then  residing,  and  that  same  day 
I  posted  a  copy  of  '  Le  Sport '  and  a  note  to  the 
Chief  Commissioner  of  Police  at  Scotland  Yard. 
A  brief  reply,  thanking  me  for  my  communication, 
and  intimating  that  the  matter  was  receiving  atten- 
tion, reached  me  a  few  days  afterwards.  I  also  spoke 
on  the  subject  to  M.  de  Saint- Albin,  who  then 


280  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

edited  '  Le  Sport,'  and  he  promised  to  inquire  into 
the  circumstances  under  which  the  "  copy  "  for  the 
advertisement  had  reached  his  paper.  Others,  I 
believe,  were  also  on  the  alert,  but  in  any  case  I 
contributed  my  "  little  bit  "  to  what  became  a  very 
famous  prosecution. 

From  that  time  onward  I  was  always  on  the 
qui  vive  with  respect  to  any  possible  turf  frauds.  The 
revival  of  France,  and  the  consequent  abundance 
of  money  in  Paris,  coupled  with  the  laxity  of  the 
French  law  in  regard  to  betting,  attracted  a  large 
number  of  bookmakers  from  England.  The  houses 
in  the  Rue  de  Choiseul  and  the  Rue  de  Hanovre, 
near  the  Boulevard  des  Italiens,  became  nothing 
but  betting  offices,  where  gambling  went  on  day  by 
day  from  morn  till  eve.  I  did  not  object  to  betting 
on  principle,  but  I  realized  that  the  systems  and 
practices  of  at  least  the  great  majority  of  the  book- 
makers who  had  come  to  Paris  from  England 
were  absolutely  fraudulent,  and  I  therefore  pro- 
ceeded to  denounce  them  in  the  French  press.  My 
late  brother  Edward,  who  turned  up  in  Paris  about 
that  time,  followed  my  lead,  and  contributed,  1 
remember,  to  '  Land  and  Water  '  some  very  slashing 
articles  exposing  the  shameless  manner  in  which 
shady  English  bookies  were  fleecing  the  ignorant 
Parisians,  notably  in  regard  to  English  races. 

It  was  all  this,  then,  which  brought  me  into  contact 
with  a  juge  d? instruction  whom  the  Procureur  de  la 
Republique  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  Rue  de 
Choiseul  frauds.  Not  long  afterwards  the  police 
descended  on  the  betting  dens,  closed  them,  and 
arrested  a  number  of  suspicious  characters,  several 
of  whom  were  promptly  turned  out  of  France.  Great 
restrictions  respecting  betting  subsequently  ensued. 
Later  still  the  pari-mutuel  system  was  introduced, 
being  legalized  by  a  law  enacted  in  June,  1891. 
Abuses  occurred,  however,  in  connection  with  the 
agencies  established  in  Paris  and  the  facilities  given 


287 

to  almost  everybody  to  open  so-called  "  offices  "  in 
wine-shops,  the  ultimate  result  being  that  even 
pari-mutuel  betting  was  restricted  to  official  instal- 
lations on  the  race-courses. 

This  kind  of  betting  is  based  on  the  sweepstakes 
system,  all  the  bets  on  a  particular  race  being  pooled, 
and  afterwards  divided  pro  rata  (less  a  percentage 
taken  by  the  Government)  among  the  backers  of 
the  winning  and  the  other  "  placed  "  horses.     The 
following  figures    show    the    system's    popularity : 
The  amount  wagered  on  the  different   race-courses 
in  1891  exceeded  £4,100,000  ;   in  1901  it  was  nearly 
£8,940,000  ;  and  in  1912  it  had  become  £16,160,000. 
In  the  last-named  year  the  pari-mutuel  betting  at 
Longchamp  represented  £2,986,000  ;  at  Auteuil,  over 
£3,414,000;    at   Saint-Ouen,    over   £1,825,000;     at 
Maisons,  nearly  £1,749,000 ;    at  Saint-Cloud,  over 
£1,574,000  ;   at  Vincennes,  nearly  £1,303,000  ;    and 
at  Chantilly,  little  less  than  £500,000.     On  thirteen 
race-courses  controlled  by  the  Societe  d' Encourage- 
ment de  la  Race  ChevaUne,  otherwise  the  French 
Jockey  Club,  the  Societe  des  Steeple  Chases,  the 
Societe  d' Encouragement  du  Demi-Sang  (half-breds), 
the    Societe    Sportive    d' Encouragement,    and    the 
Societe  de  sport  de  France,  the  pari-mutuel  wagers 
aggregated  £14,824,700.     The  authorities  levied  an 
average  of  about  4  per  cent,  on  that  amount,  or  to 
be  precise,  £592,642.     One  may  add  to  that  sum 
over  £50,000  for  the  rest  of  France.     In  this  wise  the 
State  derives  benefit  from  the  gambling  passion, 
which  it  realizes  to  be  inherent  in  human  nature. 
It  follows  that  it  is  better  to  subject  it  to  some 
measure  of  control  than  to  indulge  in  futile  efforts 
to   stamp   it   out.     The   advantage   to   those   who 
indulge  in  race-betting  is  that  if  they  win  they  are 
assured  of  their  money,  less  the  official  percentage. 
There  can   be   no  such   "  welshing "   as  exists   on 
English    race-courses.      At   the    same  time,   book- 
betting  between  friends  is  currently  tolerated  in  the 


288  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

enclosures ;  but  with  regard  to  all  ready- money 
betting  the  law  is  rigidly  enforced.  The  reader  is 
doubtless  aware  that  games  of  chance,  such  as 
baccarat,  ecarte,  and  petits  chevaux,  are  also  subjected 
to  control  when  they  are  played  at  the  clubs  and 
casinos  of  seaside  and  inland  watering-places.  From 
this  source  also  the  State  derives  revenue.  In  1912 
the  amounts  staked  at  the  establishments  I  have 
indicated  exceeded  £2,200,000. 

But  I  must  now  hark  back  to  those  gentlemen, 
the  juges  d>  instruction.  At  the  time  when  I  first 
found  myself  in  the  presence  of  one  of  them  they 
were  still  regarded  as  mysterious,  saturnine  person- 
ages, such  as  Emile  Gaboriau  occasionally  delineated 
in  his  detective  stories.  They  did  not  freely  open 
their  doors  to  journalists  and  confide  to  them  how 
they  were  progressing  with  one  or  another  "  cele- 
brated case."  A  few  years  later  a  change  gradually 
supervened  in  this  respect.  One  or  two  juges  d1 in- 
struction, who  were  more  or  less  society  men,  became 
anxious  to  appear  in  the  limelight,  to  see  their  names 
in  the  newspapers,  and  to  have  their  acumen,  ex- 
tolled, the  whole  with  an  eye  to  preferment  to  the 
judicial  bench.  These  gentlemen  virtually  turned 
their  cabinets  into  salons  de  reception,  and  became  the 
talk  of  the  town.  One  or  two,  who  proved  remarkably 
indiscreet,  gained  no  advantage  from  the  new  practices, 
but  incurred  the  displeasure  of  their  superiors  and 
lost  their  posts.  But  the  new  method  had  come  to 
stay,  in  its  main  lines  at  all  events.  Having  gained 
access  to  the  magisterial  sanctums  at  the  Palais  de 
Justice,  the  press  was  not  at  all  disposed  to  be 
turned  away,  and  thus  the  practice  of  imparting 
at  least  a  certain  amount  of  information  to  journalists 
has  continued.  Carried  occasionally  beyond  due 
limits,  it  has  resulted  sometimes  to  the  detriment 
of  accused  parties,  who  have  afterwards  failed  to 
secure  absolutely  fair  trials. 

Nowadays   the   chiefs   of   the  French  detective 


FURTHER  PHASES   OF  LIFE          289 

service  are  likewise  subjected  to  the  importunities 
of  journalists,  many  of  whom,  moreover,  start  in- 
vestigations of  their  own.  That  the  press  may  often 
prove  extremely  useful  to  the  authorities  in  un- 
ravelling a  crime  goes  without  saying ;  but  the 
Parisian  press  is  essentially  indiscreet,  and  for  one 
case  in  which  it  really  renders  help  there  are  often 
half  a  dozen  in  which  it  impedes  the  action  of  the 
official  investigators.  I  can  recall  a  few  of  the 
French  Chefs  de  la  Surete.  I  knew  Claude,  the  head 
of  the  detective  department  under  the  Empire, 
very  well  indeed  during  his  last  years.  I  remember 
Mace,  whose  clever  and  interesting  book,  '  My 
First  Crime,'  I  was  the  means  of  introducing  to 
English  readers.  I  also  met  Goron  and  likewise 
Lepine,  who  rose  to  be  Prefect  of  Police.  He  and 
Mace  were  probably  the  greatest  policiers  that  the 
present  Republic  has  had. 

There  is  another  public  service  which  watches 
over  the  safety  of  the  Parisians  and  then'  property, 
and  which  is  entitled  to  mention  here.  I  refer  to 
the  Fire  Brigade  or,  to  give  it  its  official  name,  the 
Regiment  des  Sapeurs-Pompiers.  It  was  a  very 
small  and  ill-equipped  force  when  I  first  came  in 
contact  with  it,  that  is,  during  the  conflagrations 
of  the  Commune  in  1871.  There  were  few  men,  and 
only  hand-pumps  were  then  available.  To-day 
the  force  is  composed  of  52  officers  (including  4 
medical  men),  205  sergeants,  318  corporals,  and 
1280  men,  provided  with  numerous  steam  and 
electric  engines,  fire  escapes,  and  all  other  needful 
appliances.  The  fine  horses  formerly  seen  galloping 
through  the  streets  of  London  to  one  and  another 
fire  never  had  their  equals  in  Paris,  where,  more- 
over, motor  traction  has  prevailed  for  several  years. 
In  1912  the  total  number  of  fires  occurring  in  the 
city  was  2078;  1058  were  extinguished  by  the 
firemen,  the  others,  of  small  account,  having  been 
put  out  by  the  inhabitants.  The  number  of  fires 

u 


290  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

caused  by  lighting  appliances  of  various  kinds  was 
large,  no  fewer  than  173  being  attributed  to  spirit 
lamps,  88  to  paraffin  lamps,  and  84  to  candles. 
Children  playing  with  matches  were  responsible  for 
12  fires.  Seven  were  caused  by  careless  smokers, 
four  by  drunkards,  and  one  by  a  lunatic.  Six 
were  attributed  to  malice,  and  there  were  seven 
instances  in  which  houses  wrere  struck  by  lightning. 
With  respect  to  damage  by  fire,  there  have  been 
four  black  years  since  1893— that  is,  '95,  1900,  1902, 
and  1906 — in  each  of  which  the  destruction  done 
represented  about  half  a  million  sterling.  In  1910 
the  figure  was  under  £200,000,  but  it  had  risen  again 
to  nearly  £300,000  in  1912.  In  that  last  year  the 
firemen  saved  the  lives  of  95  persons. 

Paris  is  well  provided  with  hospitals  for  those 
who  fall  ill  or  receive  injury  in  accidents,  and  with 
asylums  for  the  young,  the  aged,  the  infirm  and  the 
insane.  These  establishments  are  not  maintained 
by  frequent  appeals  to  public  charity  as  is  chiefly 
the  case  in  London.  Some  certainly  owe  their  origin 
to  philanthropical  generosity  whence  they  derive 
special  endowments.  Bequests  are  also  made  from 
time  to  time  to  one  or  another  particular  institution 
or  to  the  municipal  Assistance  Publique  service,  by 
which  most  of  the  establishments  are  controlled. 
There  are  also  various  private  maisons  de  sante 
carried  on  by  medical  men,  but  the  great  bulk  of 
the  institutions  where  disease  or  infirmity  are  treated 
are  in  the  hands  of  the  municipality,  which  receives 
some  financial  help  from  the  General  Council  of  the 
Seine  department  and  also  from  the  State.  I  find 
that  in  1912  the  Assistance  Publique  of  Paris  expended 
two  millions  sterling,  this  amount  covering,  in 
addition  to  the  cost  of  all  the  ordinary  hospitals  and 
asylums,  that  of  the  lunatic  asylums,  the  orphanages 
and  the  various  grants  made  in  respect  to  poor 
children.  In  all  France  that  year  there  existed  1892 
general  public  hospitals  and  asylums,  115  public  and 


FURTHER  PHASES  OF  LIFE 


291 


private  lunatic  asylums,  and  217  public  and  682 
private  establishments  of  unspecified  descriptions, 
ministering,  however,  like  the  others  to  one  or  another 
of  ailing  humanity's  requirements.  The  number  of 
persons  treated  in  the  general  hospitals  for  disease 
or  injury  was  775,434.  The  number  of  aged  and 
infirm  in  the  general  asylums  was  75,540  ;  but,  in 
addition  to  these,  no  fewer  than  427,747  persons 
over  70  years  of  age,  and  216,714  infirm  or  incurable 
people  received  assistance  of  one  and  another  kind. 
Moreover,  free  medical  treatment  was  given  in  over 
three  million  cases  at  a  cost  of  nearly  £1,160,000. 
To  the  lunatic  asylums  I  shall  have  occasion  to  refer 
presently. 

In  Paris  that  year  —  1912  —  238,672  persons 
received  medical  treatment  in  29  establishments 
controlled  by  the  Assistance  Publique.  These 
persons  included  91,030  men,  96,172  women,  27,258 
girls  and  24,212  boys  under  fifteen  years  of  age. 
Accouchements  appear  to  be  included  among  the 
returns  for  women,  the  normal  cases  of  this  character 
numbering  17,055.  I  append  some  figures  respecting 
certain  typical  cases  treated  in  the  Paris  hospitals 
in  1912  :— 


Tuberculosis  of  the  lungs 
„  other  forms 

Bronchial  affections 
Pneumonia 
Pleurisy 

Cancerous  affections 
Diphtheria  and  Croup 
Influenza 
Skin  diseases 
Neuritis 

Chronic  Alcoholism 
Cyrrhosis  due  to  same 


11,183  Typhoid  fever    . . 

4763  Measles    .. 

11,093  Scarlatina 

2602  Venereal  diseases 

2133  Nephritis 

3625  Bright's  disease  . . 

1991  Heart  diseases    . . 

3260  Appendicitis   and    typh 

9746  litis 

1295  Erysipelas 

804  Various  skin  diseases 
77 


2195 
4033 
2440 
9572 
1051 
1013 
2919 

3821 
1944 
9746 


Three  cases  of  hydrophobia  (two  male  and  one 
female)  are  also  mentioned  in  the  returns.  One 
patient,  a  male,  died.  The  persons  injured  in 
accidents  were  very  numerous,  the  lists  being  too 
long  for  reproduction  here.  I  observe  that  879 


292  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

persons  who  attempted  suicide  were  removed  to  the 
general  hospitals,  where  112  died.  There  were  like- 
wise 109  cases  of  people  found  perishing  of  starvation, 
and  of  these  101  were  saved.  Of  eight  people  struck 
down  in  the  streets  by  excessive  cold  only  one 
succumbed.  Six  cases  are  entered  as  "  attacks  by 
venemous  animals  " — snakes,  I  suppose — but  none 
of  these  proved  fatal.  Perhaps  the  most  curious 
entry  of  all  is  the  last  one  in  the  returns.  "  No 
complaint.  Illness  only  simulated,  5931."  In  4393 
of  these  instances  the  applicants  for  treatment  were 
women,  and  2941  of  them  were  between  twenty  and 
thirty-nine  years  of  age.  Among  the  men  there  were 
507  of  corresponding  ages.  It  is  only  f  air  to  mention 
that  297  of  the  cases  were  those  of  infants  whose 
mothers  imagined  them  to  be  ill.  But  that  so  many 
adults  should  have  thought  the  same  of  themselves— 
for  that  is  what  mostly  happened — seems  to  indicate 
that  Moliere's  '  Malade  imaginaire '  was  written  in 
vain  in  spite  of  its  literary  immortality. 

The  chief  and  oldest  general  hospital  of  Paris  is 
that  of  the  Hotel  Dieu,  originally  founded  in  the 
seventh  century  by  St.  Landry,  the  eighth  of  the 
Parisian  bishops  according  to  historians.  Often 
rebuilt  or  renovated  during  the  Middle  Ages,  the 
edifice  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1772.  Another 
building  was  then  erected,  this  being  replaced,  as  I 
previously  mentioned,*  by  the  present  hospital,  which 
was  completed  in  1878.  After  the  Hotel  Dieu  come 
the  hospitals  known  as  La  Pitie,  La  Charite,  St. 
Antoine,  Necker,  Cochin,  Beaujon,  Lariboisiere, 
Tenon,  Laennec,  Bichat,  Andral,  Broussais  and 
Boucicaut.  Next  there  are  nine  special  hospitals 
for  adults,  and  six  special  ones  for  children,  with 
three  convalescent  homes  for  the  same.  Eleven 
hospitals  are  well  organized  for  accouchements. 

Two  of  the  principal  asylums,  Bicetre  and  La 
Salpetriere,  are  ancient  institutions.  They  are,  in 

*  See  p.  22,  ante* 


FURTHER  PHASES  OF  LIFE  293 

part,  lunatic  asylums,  the  first  for  men  and  the 
second  for  women,  and  in  part  refuges  for  aged  and 
infirm  paupers,  the  latter  also  finding  accommodation 
at  the  Ivry  and  the  Brevannes  asylums,  as  well  as 
at  several  maisons  de  retraite,  such  as  Les  Menages, 
La  Rochefoucauld,  Sainte-Perine,  Bigottini  and 
Vineuil,  and  fourteen  others  founded  by  private 
people  but  now  under  municipal  control.  There  are 
also  five  private  foundations  for  children,  and  three 
convalescent  homes  for  accouchees  established  by 
Mme.  Boucicaut  of  the  Bon  Marche. 

Since  January,  1907,  all  infirm,  incurable  or 
aged  *  indigents  of  French  nationality  are  entitled  to 
assistance  or,  as  we  say,  relief,  on  the  part  of  the 
municipalities  of  the  communes  where  they  reside, 
these  municipalities  receiving  help  in  this  respect 
from  State  and  departmental  funds.  In  Paris  the 
municipality  has  to  bear  70  per  cent,  of  the  expendi- 
ture, the  remainder  being  contributed  in  equal  pro- 
portions by  the  department  of  the  Seine  and  the 
Government.  The  Municipal  Council  decides  whether 
home-relief  shall  be  granted,  or  whether  the  case 
is  one  for  an  asylum  or  retreat.  On  the  30th 
September,  1913,  the  total  number  of  infirm  or  aged 
persons  in  receipt  of  this  relief  in  one  or  another 
form  was  74,492,  over  70,000  of  whom  were  domiciled 
in  Paris  itself.  No  fewer  than  66,000  received  home- 
relief.  The  number  of  women  was  double  that  of 
men.  In  Paris,  when  home-relief  is  given  there,  the 
monthly  allowance  is  one  of  30  francs,  or  a  franc 
a  day.  At  Vincennes,  Ivry,  Les  Lilas,  the  Pre 
Saint-Gervais  and  Suresnes  it  amounts  to  28  francs, 
falling  gradually  in  the  different  localities  of  the 
environs  to  25,  20,  18  and  15  francs. 

1  come  now  to  the  question  of  the  insane,  of  whom 
at  the  end  of  1912  there  were  rather  more  than 
77,000  in  the  various  public  and  private  asylums  of 

*  That  is,  seventy  years  old  or  over. 


294  PARIS  AND  HER   PEOPLE 

France.  In  that  same  year,  according  to  our  Com- 
missioners in  Lunacy,  we  had  138,377  insane  persons 
in  England  and  Wales,  bub  this  return  included  a 
considerable  number  who  dwelt  with  their  families 
under  the  supervision  of  the  authorities.  Prussia, 
in  1911,  counted  92,000  insane  persons,*  her  popula- 
tion then  being  about  four  millions  less  than  that  of 
France,  and  from  two  to  three  millions  less  than  that 
of  England  and  Wales.  The  best  known  lunatic 
asylum  in  France  is  that  of  Charenton,  which, 
although  situated  in  the  immediate  suburbs  of  Paris, 
is  under  the  control  of  the  State  and  not  of  the 
municipality.  It  accommodated  210  men  and  350 
women  in  December,  1912.  At  the  nine  municipal 
asylums  of  Paris  and  at  certain  "  colonies "  in 
the  provinces  there  were  at  that  date  nearly 
16,000  patients.  Every  year  a  large  number  of 
persons  are  sent  to  asylums  by  the  authorities  of  the 
Prefecture  of  Police,  who  have  a  special  infirmary 
where  people  suspected  of  insanity  are  in  the  first 
instance  carefully  examined.  The  Prefecture  dealt 
with  5430  such  cases  in  1912.  Moreover,  the  police 
temporarily  take  charge  of  the  money,  jewellery, 
stocks  and  shares  and  other  property  belonging  to 
the  insane,  afterwards  transferring  everything  to  the 
Prefecture  of  the  Seine  which  exercises  a  kind  of  legal 
guardianship.  In  the  year  to  which  I  refer  money 
and  scrip  representing  between  £13,000  and  £14,000 
were  dealt  with  in  this  manner. 

If  my  memory  serves  me  correctly,  not  a  single 
night-refuge  existed  in  all  Paris  fifty  years  ago. 
Those  who  found  themselves  homeless,  without  the 
money  for  a  night's  lodging,  had  to  wander  about 
or  ensconce  themselves  in  corners,  or  under  bridges 
or  among  the  limekilns  of  the  so-called  Carrieres 
d'Amerique,  and  in  other  places.  The  police  con- 
stantly made  razzias,  and  not  infrequently  found 
some  "  wanted  "  individuals  among  these  night  birds. 

*  I  have  not  found  any  returns  for  the  whole  of  Germany. 


FURTHER  PHASES   OF  LIFE          295 

Many  repaired  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Central 
Markets,  where  their  presence  was  in  a  measure 
tolerated,  as  it  was  difficult  to  distinguish  between 
those  who  were  really  waiting  for  a  job  and  those 
who  haunted  this  district  simply  to  while  away  the 
time.  Two  or  three  flash  restaurants,  a  dozen 
eating-houses  and  a  score  or  so  of  rough  wine-shops 
remained  open  all  night ;  and  at  the  latter  any  one 
possessed  of  a  few  coppers  could  obtain  a  glass  of 
wine  or  a  dram  of  spirits,  and — provided  the  place 
were  not  overcrowded — a  seat  on  a  form,  by  this 
means  resting  his  tired  limbs.  Those  who  endea- 
voured to  snatch  a  rest  on  the  public  benches  of 
the  boulevards  and  other  leading  thoroughfares 
were  constantly  "  moved  on "  by  the  police,  the 
London  system  being  generally  observed. 

Early  in  the  Eighties,  however,  private  charity 
at  last  attempted  to  effect  something  for  the  city's 
homeless  wanderers  who  had  not  even  such  a  resource 
as  a  casual  ward  to  fall  back  upon,  the  workhouse 
system  being  unknown  in  France.  An  association 
called  L'Hospitalite  de  Nuit  was  founded,  and 
the  few  night-refuges  which  it  was  at  first  able  to 
open — with  the  somewhat  grudging  assent  of  the 
police — speedily  secured  inmates.  There  are  still 
several  refuges  supported  by  charity,  the  Paris  Salva- 
tionists, etc.,  but  the  Municipal  Council  has  others 
under  its  immediate  control,  the  principal  being  the 
Refuge  Nicolas  Flamel  and  the  Refuge  Benoit  Malon. 
Both  are  for  men  without  homes,  and  in  1912  the 
first  named  accommodated  10,200.  Name,  nation- 
ality, age  and  calling  had  to  be  specified  by  those 
who  were  admitted.  Seven  appears  to  have  been 
the  average  number  of  nights  which  they  spent  at 
this  refuge.  I  find  that  643  of  them  were  foreigners 
and  included,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  219  who  described 
themselves  as  natives  of  Alsace-Lorraine.  There 
were  also  44  Germans,  121  Belgians,  83  Italians, 
46  Switzers  and  8  British  subjects  among  the 


296  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

refugees.  The  classes  which  were  most  numerously 
represented  were  journeymen  labourers  (3786),  road- 
menders  (301),  masons  (319),  carpenters  and  wheel- 
wrights (322),  carters  (236),  locksmiths  (221),  com- 
mercial employees  (215),  and  house  painters  (250). 
I  also  observe  in  the  return  128  cooks  or  kitchen 
assistants,  159  gardeners,  143  printers,  101  plumbers, 
6  schoolmasters,  and  6  "  lyric  and  dramatic 
artistes."  Some  workshops  are  attached  to  the 
Nicolas  Flamel  refuge,  and  1275  masons,  carpenters, 
house  painters,  locksmiths,  plumbers,  tailors,  mattress 
makers,  etc.,  were  given  temporary  employment 
there,  putting  in  between  them  13,400  days  of  work 
and  earning,  in  round  figures,  £1050.  At  the  Refuge 
Benoit  Malon,  which  is  on  the  Quai  de  Valmy,  the 
number  of  men  admitted  was  nearly  11,000.  They 
stayed  there  on  an  average  for  only  four  nights. 
Among  them  were  844  foreigners.  Of  these,  223 
were  natives  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  122  Germans,  162 
Belgians,  123  Italians,  56  Swiss,  30  Austrians,  and 
9  British  subjects.  It  is  quite  likely  that  some 
of  the  people  admitted  to  this  refuge  were  at  other 
times  inmates  of  the  Nicolas  Flamel  establishment. 
One  again  notes  the  same  professions,  in  much  the 
same  proportions. 

There  are  certain  temporary  asylums  for  women. 
The  Asile  Ledru-Rollin  receives  those  who  have 
attained  to  convalescence  after  childbirth.  The 
Asile  Michelet  takes  in  women  who  are  enceintes  in 
an  advanced  stage.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Refuge 
Pauline-Roland  is  for  women  who  are  in  good  health 
and  able  to  work,  but  momentarily  find  themselves 
without  employment.  Finally,  there  is  the  Asile 
George-Sand  for  homeless  women  who  may  take 
their  children  (if  they  have  any)  with  them.  In 
1912  the  total  number  of  admissions  to  these  four 
houses  appears  to  have  been  6549,  inclusive  of  808 
infants  and  391  other  children.  Over  3600  of  the 
women  were  unmarried,  974  were  widows,  and  96 


FURTHER  PHASES  OF  LIFE  297 

had  been  divorced  and  105  separated  from  their 
husbands.  Among  them  were  58  natives  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine,  34  Germans,  24  Italians,  15  Switzers, 
16  Belgians,  11  Russians  and  1  British  subject. 
No  fewer  than  2188  described  themselves  as  domestic 
servants,  and  1282  as  journey  women ;  while  there 
were  also  224  dressmakers,  31  modistes,  167  laundry- 
women,  96  linger es,  and  35  "  members  of  liberal 
professions."  Apparently  a  femme  de  chambre  does 
not  regard  herself  as  a  domestic  servant :  at  all 
events,  168  women  specified  themselves  as  ladies' 
maids.  There  were  80  commercial  employees. 

Both  among  the  men  and  the  women  admitted 
to  these  various  refuges  and  asylums  there  was  only 
a  minority  of  born  Parisians.  Among  the  men  who 
lodged  at  the  Nicolas  Flamel  refuge  4455  had  not 
been  more  than  two  months  in  Paris.  Of  those  who 
patronized  the  Benoit  Malon  refuge,  5139  were 
entered  in  the  same  category.  As  for  the  women, 
1900  of  them  had  not  been  in  the  capital  for  more 
than  six  months.  It  was,  and  is,  the  old  story. 
Paris  attracts  people  from  all  parts  of  France.  It 
is  pictured  as  a  Promised  Land,  an  El  Dorado,  whose 
streets  are  paved  with  gold ;  but  every  year 
thousands  of  those  who  flock  thither  "  go  under," 
some  for  a  while,  and  others,  unfortunately,  for  the 
remainder  of  their  lives. 

They,  like  a  number  of  real  Parisians,  struck 
down  by  misfortune,  are  assailed  at  times  by  thoughts 
of  suicide.  In  1912  there  were  over  47,000  deaths 
in  Paris,  and  among  these  the  cases  of  suicide  were 
794 — 200  of  the  persons  who  destroyed  themselves 
being  women.  The  Parisians  more  frequently  shoot, 
hang,  or  suffocate  themselves.  In  1912  the  cases  of 
shooting  were  283  (inclusive  of  34  women),  of  hanging 
225  (inclusive  of  35  women),  and  of  suffocation  110, 
52  women  dying  in  that  way.  Poison  was  taken  in 
44  instances,  almost  equally  divided  among  the 
sexes  ;  and  22  men  and  32  women  threw  themselves 


298  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

from  windows  or  other  points  of  elevation.  There 
were  26  instances  in  which  daggers,  knives  or  similar 
implements  were  employed  for  purposes  of  self- 
destruction,  these  cases  including  those  of  five 
women.  Suicide  by  drowning  was  less  prevalent 
than  might  be  supposed,  the  number  being  39,  in 
which  a  dozen  women  were  included. 

Near  the  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame  there  exists  a 
Parisian  institution  which  British  tourists  much 
affected  in  former  years.  It  is  called  the  Morgue, 
and  thither  the  authorities  convey  the  corpses  of  all 
persons  whose  identity  is  not  established  or  whose 
dwelling-place  is  unknown,  in  order  to  collect  every 
kind  of  information  by  which  identity  and  so  forth 
may  be  established.  Bodies  which  for  one  or 
another  reason  are  to  undergo  examination  by  the 
official  medical  men  are  also  carried  to  the  Morgue. 
The  staff  is  composed  of  a  principal  and  an  assistant 
clerk,  two  police  inspectors,  four  porters,  an  office 
attendant,  and  four  medical  inspectors  to  whom 
sanitary  supervision  is  entrusted.  Laid  out  on  slabs, 
washed,  as  it  were,  incessantly  by  extremely  cold 
running  water,  the  unidentified  bodies  may  be 
viewed  by  the  general  public  in  the  hope  that  the 
deceased  may  be  recognized  by  one  or  another 
visitor.  The  clothes  worn  at  the  moment  of  death 
may  also  be  inspected.  The  bodies,  however,  of 
those  whose  identity  has  been  established,  and  who 
have  been  taken  to  the  Morgue  only  for  medical 
examination,  are  not  exhibited.  In  1912,  639  un- 
identified bodies  were  placed  in  the  Morgue.  Among 
them  were  those  of  21 1  men  and  72  women  who  had 
committed  suicide,  of  21  men  and  5  women  who  had 
been  killed  by  others,*  of  68  men  and  4  women  who 
had  been  killed  in  accidents,  of  72  men  and  19  women 
who  had  died  suddenly  (sometimes  dropping  down 
in  the  streets  )f  of  19  men  who  had  succumbed  to 

*  Some  of  these  were  oases  of  manslaughter,  not  of  murder. 

t  These  were  cases  of  sudden  cerebral  congestion  or  heart  failure. 


299 

illness,  and  of  111  men  and  37  women,  the  causes 
of  whose  deaths  were  unknown  and  required  in- 
vestigation. 

Among  the  people  who  had  died  by  drowning 
were  no  fewer  than  271  men  and  96  women,  and  as 
only  39  cases  of  suicide  by  drowning  were  estab- 
lished, one  may  take  it  that  328  persons  were  acci- 
dentally drowned  that  year.  The  number  appears 
extremely  large  when  one  remembers  the  quays  of 
the  Seine  and  the  canals,  their  parapets,  the  well- 
defined  masonry,  also  of  the  actual  banks  beside  the 
water.  But  in  one  or  another  way  people  are  con- 
stantly slipping  into  the  Seine,  as  is  shown  by  the 
reports  of  the  Postes  de  Secours  placed  under  the 
control  of  the  Prefecture  of  Police.  In  1911,  360 
persons  were  removed  from  the  Seine,  or  the  canals 
which  enter  Paris,  to  the  sixteen  Pavilions  de  Secours, 
and  in  the  ensuing  year  the  number  increased  to  383. 
No  fewer  than  56  were  recovered  near  the  Louvre 
and  51  near  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  Only  nine  of  the 
383  died  subsequent  to  removal  from  the  water, 
the  others  fully  recovering  after  treatment  at  the 
pavilions.  Nevertheless,  as  the  Morgue  returns  show, 
328  persons  (exclusive  of  suicides)  actually  perished 
that  year  by  drowning. 

As  I  have  already  indicated,  in  addition  to  the 
bodies  taken  to  the  Morgue  primarily  for  identifica- 
tion, many  others  are  deposited  there.  The  number 
of  those  whose  identity  was  known  but  in  whose 
cases  official  medical  examination  appeared  desirable, 
was  751  in  1912.  Among  these  cases  there  were 
132  of  manslaughter,  and  30  of  murder — nine  of  the 
victims  in  the  last-named  instances  being  women. 
One  may  regard  this  as  a  full  return  of  the  number 
of  murders  perpetrated  in  1912  within  the  immediate 
jurisdiction  of  the  Prefecture  of  Police. 

Let  me  revert  for  a  moment  to  the  question  of 
suicide.  No  such  distinction  as  that  drawn  at 
English  inquests  between  "  temporary  insanity ': 


300  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

and  felo-de-se  is  known  to  the  French  law.  The 
case  may  be  of  one  or  the  other  kind.  The  truth 
sometimes  remains  entirely  unknown,  or,  at  best,  is 
known  only  to  relatives  or  intimate  friends.  I 
believe  that  the  Parisian  Catholic  clergy  put  the  more 
favourable  interpretation  on  the  matter,  and  make 
little  or  no  difficulty  about  officiating  at  the  funerals 
of  suicides.  At  all  events,  I  have  certainly  attended 
religious  rites  for  persons  who,  it  was  notorious,  had 
died  by  their  own  hands,  and  yet  whose  sanity  had 
never  appeared  doubtful.  The  assumption  more 
generally  prevalent  in  England  that  a  person  must 
be  insane  to  take  his  own  life  was  unknown  to  the 
Romans  of  old  as  it  is  to  the  Japanese  of  to-dav. 

Taking  all  France  I  find  that  from  1873  to  1877 
(inclusive),  5670  was  the  average  annual  number  of 
suicides,  and  that  it  had  increased  to  9660  from  1908 
to  1911.  In  the  last-named  year  3861  persons,  in- 
cluding 625  women,  put  an  end  to  their  lives  by 
hanging  themselves  ;  2506,  including  845  women, 
by  drowning  themselves;  and  1453  (170  women)  by 
shooting  themselves.  In  2069  cases  suicide  was 
imputed  to  physical  suffering,  in  1201  to  "  alco- 
holism," in  1381  to  cerebral  trouble,  in  404  to 
jealousy  and  disappointment  in  love,  in  409  to 
pecuniary  worries,  in  787  to  absolute  penury,  and  in 
38  to  gambling  losses.  There  were  65  cases  in  which 
persons  guilty  of  murder  or  manslaughter  took  their 
own  lives.  Leaving  Paris  on  one  side,  suicides  were 
more  frequent  in  Northern  and  North- Western  France 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  country.  For  instance, 
within  the  jurisdictions  of  the  appeal  courts  of  the 
following  cities  the  number  of  suicides  was  :  Amiens, 
624;  Douai,  610;  Rennes,  508;  Rouen,  490. 
Another  curious  point  is  that  suicides  were  com- 
paratively more  numerous  in  rural  than  in  urban 
districts — that  is,  if  Paris  be  excepted  from  the 
calculation.  « 

Tuberculosis  of  one  and  another  kind,  cancerous 


FURTHER  PHASES  OF  LIFE  301 

affections,  apoplexy,  heart  complaints,  bronchial 
pneumonia,  Bright's  disease,  enteritis  and  measles 
are  among  the  most  frequent  causes  of  mortality  in 
Paris.  When  the  Parisian  is  dead  he  has  to  be 
buried,  and  his  relations  or  friends  do  not  go  as  we 
do  to  any  private  "  undertaker,"  but  to  the  town 
hall  of  the  arrondissemeni,  where  there  is  a  branch 
office  of  the  municipal  burial  service.  This  is  known 
somewhat  appropriately  as  the  Administration  des 
Pompes  Funebres.  It  signifies  almost  the  last 
phase  of  the  pomps  and  vanities  of  this  wicked  world, 
to  which  there  can  only  be  added  the  erection  of 
some  splendid  tomb  over  the  remains  of  the 
departed.  The  municipality  of  Paris  derives  about 
a  quarter  of  a  million  sterling  annually  by  providing 
all  that  is  requisite  for  funeral  services  ;  and  about 
£140,000  are  received  for  burial  sites  in  the  various 
cemeteries.  There  are  expenses  to  be  considered, 
however,  and  the  profits  of  the  burial  service  do  not 
exceed  £100,000  per  annum. 

There  is  a  graduated  scale  of  "Funereal  Pomps" 
—comprising  ten  "  classes  "  apart  from  the  gratuitous 
burial  of  paupers.  A  first-class  funeral,  which  is  the 
most  expensive,  is  seldom  ordered.  It  is  generally 
reserved  for  those  famous  or  prominent  men  who 
are  buried  at  the  expense  of  the  State.  Thus,  of 
three  first-class  funerals  which  took  place  in  Paris 
in  1912,  one  was  that  of  Henri  Brisson,  a  former 
prime  minister  and  president  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies.  Again,  there  were  only  44  second-class, 
273  third-class,  and  861  fourth-class  funerals,  these 
being  those  of  members  of  the  aristocracy  and  the 
upper  bourgeoisie.  The  general  bourgeoisie  may  be 
said  to  have  patronized  the  fifth  and  the  sixth  classes 
—4542  and  2195  funerals  respectively.  The  seventh 
class  included  over  9000  funerals,  chiefly,  I  take  it,  of 
the  lower  bourgeoisie,  including  the  average  shop- 
keeping  section  of  the  community.  There  were 
5659  funerals  of  the  eighth,  and  6767  of  the  ninth 


302  PARIS   AND  HER  PEOPLE 

classes,  next  to  which  came  what  is  called  the 
ordinary  service,  which  counted  nearly  4000  funerals, 
and  finally  the  "gratuitous  service,"  which  was 
provided  in  17,106  cases. 

The  classes  differ  from  one  another  in  the  hearses, 
horses,  trappings,  church  and  house  hangings,  coffins 
and  attendance  provided.  At  the  more  expensive 
funerals  the  black  hangings  and  trappings  are  deeply 
edged  with  silver  braid  and  fringe,  and  spangled  with 
silver  "  tears."  *  The  entrance  of  the  house  whence 
the  funeral  starts  is  more  or  less  elaborately  draped. 
The  coffin  is  often  deposited  on  a  bier  within  the 
doorway,  and  surrounded  with  lighted  tapers  burning 
in  tall  metal  holders.  The  hearses  differ  in  style. 
One  which  is  occasionally  employed  at  state  obsequies 
is  adorned  at  its  four  corners  with  silver  angels.  It 
was  made,  I  believe,  for  the  funeral  of  the  Duke  de 
Morny,  the  illegitimate  half-brother  of  Napoleon  III. 
Nowadays,  however,  many  prominent  Republicans, 
the  cost  of  whose  funerals  is  borne  by  the  State,  are 
interred  without  religious  rites,  and  in  such  instances 
a  hearse  decorated  with  angels  would  be  out  of  place. 
The  first  so-called  "  civil  funeral "  of  a  Parisian 
celebrity  during  the  present  Republic  was  that  of 
Felicien  David,  the  composer,  in  1876.  It  created  a 
great  impression.  Later,  a  prefect  of  the  Seine, 
M.  Herold,  a  relative  of  the  composer  of  that  name, 
was  also  laid  to  rest  without  any  religious  rites. 
Next,  in  1881,  came  the  civil  funeral  of  Blanqui,  the 
old  revolutionist,  followed,  on  January  6th,  1883,  by 
the  obsequies  of  Gambetta,  when  the  ceremonies  of 
the  Church  were  again  dispensed  with.  In  '85  there 
were  no  religious  rites  at  the  great  funeral  of  Victor 
Hugo,  when  a  procession  three  miles  in  length  wended 
its  way  through  Paris  behind  the  hearse  on  which 
lay  the  remains  of  the  great  poet.  Hugo  was  almost 
besieged  by  the  clergy  during  the  last  days  of  his 

*  There  are  white,  or  rather  cream-coloured,  hangings  for  young  girls. 


FURTHER  PHASES   OF  LIFE          303 

final  illness,  but  he  steadily  refused,  as  he  said,  "  the 
ministrations  of  any  priest  of  any  religion  whatever." 
His  case  was  different,  however,  from  those  of 
David,  Herold,  Blanqui  and  Gambetta.  He  was  not 
an  atheist  of  any  category,  but  purely  and  simply  a 
Deist — like  Voltaire.  In  the  latter's  case  the  Church 
triumphed  by  means  of  a  subterfuge,  but  in  Hugo's 
it  was  defeated,  and  did  not  disguise  its  chagrin. 
Yet,  surely,  it  is  possible  to  believe  in  a  Divinity 
and  even  to  reverence  the  Christ,  without  accepting 
any  of  the  man-made  dogmas  and  doctrines  of  the 
different  Churches. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  number  of  baptisms  in 
Paris  is  very  large.  I  have  no  exact  figures,  but 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  in  four  out  of  every 
five  cases  Parisian  mothers  insist  on  the  baptism  of 
their  infants.  I  do  not  think,  however,  that  more  than 
half  of  the  young  Parisians  are  nowadays  prepared 
for  their  first  communion — otherwise  confirmation. 
Perhaps,  indeed,  that  estimate  is  excessive.  In  any 
case  I  incline  to  the  view  that  the  number  of  girls 
taking  their  first  communion  greatly  exceeds  the 
number  of  boys.  When  we  come  to  funerals  we 
find  the  municipal  returns  stating  that  out  of  50,393, 
which  took  place  in  1912,  34,601  were  accompanied 
by  religious  rites,  and  that  13,155  were  what  are 
known  as  civil  burials.  Eliminating  the  Protestants, 
Jews  and  others,  the  exact  number  of  funerals  at 
which  the  rites  of  the  Catholic  Church  were  performed 
was  32,732.  I  find  also  that  in  2562  cases  the  civil 
funeral  ceremony  was  limited  to  removal  from  Paris 
for  subsequent  burial  in  the  provinces  ;  and  in  these 
instances  there  is  no  record  whether  religious  rites 
were  subsequently  celebrated  or  not.  However,  the 
municipality  estimates  that  at  26  per  cent,  of  all  the 
funerals  there  was  no  religious  ceremony. 

Paris  possesses  nineteen  cemeteries  or  burial 
grounds,  but  several  of  these  are  situated  outside 
the  city,  whilst  some  of  those  within  its  limits  are 


304  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

quite  small.  No  more  burials  take  place  apparently 
in  the  little  ground  known  as  Montmartre-Calvaire, 
where,  however,  85  graves  conceded  "  for  all  time  " 
(en  perpetuite)  still  exist.  Very  few,  too,  are  the  new 
burials  at  Bercy,  Charonne,  La  Villette,  Auteuil, 
Passy,  St.  Vincent  and  Vaugirard.  Among  the  large 
cemeteries  inside  Paris,  the  one  which  is  known 
officially  as  the  Cimetiere  de  1'Est  takes  first  place. 
It  is  more  familiarly  called  Pere-Lachaise,  having 
once  formed  part  of  the  great  estates  of  that  famous 
Jesuit  Father,  who  preceded  his  colleague  Letellier 
as  confessor  to  Louis  XIV.  This  cemetery  spreads 
over  an  expanse  of  nearly  432,000  square  metres,  and 
includes  more  than  65,000  permanent  or  perpetual 
and  almost  3000  temporary  concessions.  The  next 
cemetery  in  regard  to  extent  is  that  of  Montpamasse 
—over  191,000  square  metres  and  containing  36,000 
permanent  graves.  Then  come  Montmartre — 1 1 6,000 
square  metres  and  over  21,000  permanent  graves ; 
and  Batignolles — 104,000  square  metres  and  nearly 
5000  "  perpetual  concessions." 

Outside  Paris  one  finds  on  the  north  the  great 
cemetery  of  Saint  Ouen  (245,000  square  metres), 
where  temporary  graves  predominate.  Yet  vaster — 
in  fact,  more  than  twice  the  size  of  Pere-Lachaise— 
is  the  cemetery  of  Pantin-Bobigny,  also  on  the  north, 
and  counting  over  55,000  temporary  and  4480 
permanent  concessions.  On  the  south  lie  the  ceme- 
teries of  Bagneux — half  as  large  again  as  Pere- 
Lachaise  and  numbering  nearly  as  many  concessions 
as  Pantin — and  also  the  somewhat  smaller  ground  of 
Ivry.  Taking  all  the  Parisian  cemeteries  together 
they  cover  more  than  a  thousand  square  kilometres 
of  ground,  and  they  included,  in  1912,  153,000  per- 
manent and  170,000  temporary  concessions.  So- 
called  "  common  graves  "  are  not  comprised  in  any 
of  the  above  figures.  Of  these,  22,000  were  allotted 
in  1912,  and  over  20,500  in  1913.  Permanent  con- 
cessions are  granted  in  all  the  cemeteries  where  room 


FURTHER  PHASES  OF  LIFE  305 

is  still  available,  but  at  the  present  time  temporary 
ones  and  resting-places  in  the  so-called  tranchee 
gratuite  are  obtainable  only  at  Saint  Ouen,  Ivry, 
Pantin,  and  Bagneux. 

The  Parisians  are  much  attached  to  the  memory 
of  their  dead,  and  the  cemeteries  are  visited  by  vast 
numbers  of  people,  particularly  at  different  seasons 
of  the  year,  coinciding  with  certain  festivals  of  the 
Church.  All  Saints'  Day,  and  the  Jour  des  Morts, 
which  follows  it  at  the  beginning  of  November,  are 
particularly  marked  by  the  multitudes  who  then 
flock  to  one  and  another  burial-ground,  generally  in 
order  to  deposit  new  wreaths  011  the  graves  of  those 
whom  they  have  lost.  On  November  1st,  1912, 
nearly  630,000  persons  visited  the  various  Parisian 
cemeteries.  On  the  ensuing  day  there  were  177,000, 
and  on  the  3rd — a  Sunday — 265,929.  Again,  certain 
name-days — Saint  Louis,  Sainte  Marie,  and  so  forth 
—bring  many  people  to  the  cemeteries.  Returns  for 
eight  days  during  1912  show  that  the  number  of 
visitors  was  nearly  1,400,000. 

This  widespread  cult  of  the  dead,  which  is  pre- 
valent not  only  among  religious  folk  but  also  among 
freethinkers  of  virtually  all  categories,  has  cer- 
tainly checked  the  progress  of  cremation.  In  only 
508  instances  during  the  year  1912  did  relatives 
apply  to  have  the  remains  of  members  of  their 
families  cremated.  In  all  other  cases  in  which 
cremation  was  carried  out  it  was  by  order  of  the 
authorities.  In  this  wise  2179  bodies,  coming  from 
the  Ecole  de  Medecine  and  the  anatomical  schools 
of  Clamart  and  the  Val-de-Grace,  were  cremated. 
There  were  also  3181  cremations  of  immature  off- 
spring. The  only  crematorium  in  the  city  is  one 
installed  at  the  cemetery  of  Pere-Lachaise.  It  is 
difficult  to  say  whether  the  practice  of  cremation 
will  ever  increase  in  favour  among  the  Parisians. 
During  the  last  half  century,  however,  their  ceme- 
teries have  been  steadily  increasing  in  numbers  and 

X 


306  PARIS  AND  HER  PEOPLE 

expanding  in  extent,  and  it  may  well  happen  that 
serious  questions  will  arise  before  very  long  respecting 
further  accommodation  for  the  remains  of  those 
who  pass  away.  Some  of  the  cemeteries  established 
during  the  last  fifty  years  or  so  lie  at  some  distance 
outside  the  city,  and  unless  people  are  willing  to 
accept  the  system  of  cremation  it  may  even  become 
necessary  to  carry  the  dead  away  into  the  provinces. 

Here  for  a  while  I  must  pause.  There  are 
certainly  many  other  interesting  things  to  be 
recorded  respecting  Paris  and  her  People  during 
the  forty-three  years  or  so  which  elapsed  between 
the  Rebellion  of  the  Commune  and  the  advent  of 
the  Great  War.  As  I  have  already  indicated,  I 
propose  to  deal  in  another  volume  with  several 
subjects  omitted  from  this  one.  I  hope  to  include 
in  it  a  chronicle  of  Parisian  happenings  between 
1900  and  August,  1914,  and  also  to  allot  chapters 
to  the  stage  and  the  art  world  during  that  period. 
In  other  sections  I  wish  to  give  some  account  of  the 
industries  and  manufactures  of  Paris,  the  great 
stores,  the  vagaries  of  Paris  fashions,  the  city's 
markets  and  restaurants,  the  relations  of  the  sexes 
as  influenced  by  the  Naquet  Divorce  Law,  the  more 
notable  features  of  crime  in  Paris  and  some  of  the 
celebrated  cases  which  have  come  before  the  courts 
there.  In  the  hope  that  I  may  be  able  to  carry 
out  those  intentions  I  trust  that  my  readers,  if 
interested  in  my  work,  will  allow  me  to  wish  them 
very  cordially  au  revoir. 


INDEX 


ACADEMY,  French,  65,  92,  197,  227, 
230,  231.  See  also  Gobert  and 
Monty  on 

Academy,  Goncourt,  226.  227 
Actors  and  actresses,  including 
vocalists  :  Agar,  Mme.,  62,  180  ; 
Alexander,  Sir  G.,  123  ;  Antoine, 
135,  136,  233;  Arnould-Plessy, 
Mine.,  118 ;  Barre,  122, 125 ;  Bar- 
retta,  Mile.,  121,  253;  Bartet, 
Mile.,  121,  253;  Bernhardt, 
Sarah,  60,  61,  119,  120,  121,  126, 
187,  201,  220,  253;  Bressant, 
52,  120,  126;  Brohan,  Made- 
leine, 118,  121,  126;  Cabel, 
Marie,  116;  Capoul,  52,  113, 
116;  Carvalho,  Leon,  see  Stage 
(managers) ;  Carvalho,  Mme., 
115  et  seq.,  211  ;  Cheri,  Rose, 
128;  Coquelin,  C.  (aind),  122, 
123,  126,  209,  210;  Coquelin, 

E.  (cadet),  52,  122,  123,  124,  164, 
253  ;  Croizette,  Sophie,  119,  120, 
126 ;    Damala,  J.,  61  ;    Dejazet, 
Virginie,  84, 127, 164  ;  Delaunay, 
122,  124,  126 ;    Desclee,  Aimee, 
128  ;      Duchesnois,    Mile.,     62 ; 
Dudlay,  Mile.,  253  ;   Engel,  185  ; 
Fargueil,    AnaLs.    224;     Faure, 
115;    Favart,  Mme.,   118,   126; 
Febvre,    122,    124,    126;     Felix, 
Dinah,  118  ;    Feraudy,  de,  253  ; 
Fides-Devries,   115,   151;    Galli- 
Marie,  Mme.,  51,  52,  116;    Gar- 
den,   Mary,    201  ;     Geffroy,    E., 
211;     George,   Mile.,   62;     Got, 

F.  J.,   122,   123,   126;    Granier, 
Jeanne,  82,  83  ;   Guimard.  Mile., 
121 ;  Henriot,  Mile.,  252  ;  Irving, 
Sir  H.,  195  ;  Jouassin,  Mile.,  118  ; 


Judic,  Mme.,  180 ;  Krauss,  Mme., 
112,  115;  Lafontaine,  65;  La- 
guerre,  Mile.,  131  ;  Laroche,  122, 
125 ;  Laurent,  Marie,  43 ;  Le- 
maitre,  Fred.,  63,  64  ;  Maubant, 
122,  124,  126;  Melingue,  E.,  62,' 
63;  Merante,  115,  137;  Miolan, 
see  Carvalho,  Mme. ;  Montaland, 
Celine,  164 ;  Mounet,  Paul.  125, 
253 ;  Mounet-Sully,  122,  125  ; 
Neilson,  Lilian,  87 ;  Nicolini, 
236;  Patti,  Mme.,  117,  151, 
236;  Paulus,  143;  Provost- 
Ponsin,  Mile.,  118  ;  Rachel,  Mile., 
62,  119,  171  ;  Reichenberg  or 
Reichemberg,  119  ;  Rejane, 
Mme.,  200 ;  Renaud,  Maurice, 
201;  Riquier,  Edile,  118;  Sa- 
mary,  Jeanne,  121  ;  Sass,  Marie, 
52,  180;  Simonnet,  Mile.,  185; 
Sully-Silvain,  253 ;  Tailhade, 
236;  Tamberlick,  151;  Theo, 
Mme.,  180;  Theodorine,  Mme., 
63;  Thiron.  122,  125,  126; 
Worms,  122,  125,  126 
Aero  Club,  237,  238 
Amusement  taxes,  287,  288 
Anarchists  :  Henri,  E.,  190  ;  Leau- 
thier,  189  ;  Pauwels,  190  ;  Rava- 
chol,  189  ;  Vaillant,  189 
Army,  see  Recruits,  under  Paris, 

population. 

Artists  (painters,  sculptors,  carica- 
turists, architects) :  Bartholdi, 
172,  238;  Bastien- Lepage,  41, 
69,  93;  Baudry,  P.,  58,  144; 
Bonheur,  Rosa,  237 ;  Bougue- 
reau,  69;  Cabanel,  69,  152; 
Cain,  Auguste,  204;  Caran 
d'Ache,  182,  235;  Carpeaux, 


308 


INDEX 


58 ;  Cham,  93,  94,  193 ;  Chapu, 
39;  Daillon.  229;  Dalou,  245; 
Daubigny,  K.,  144;  Daumier. 
64,  193;  Delaroche,  P.,  41; 
Detaffle,  67,  68;  Deveria,  41; 
Dore,  G.,  139 ;  Dubois,  Paul,  40 ; 
Dubufe,  E.,  69,  93;  Dupre,  J.. 
93;  Duran,  Carolus,  69,  120; 
Foyatier,  39;  Fragonard,  40; 
Frdre,  Edouard,  144;  Garnier, 
Charles,  67,  235,  236;  Gavarni, 
193;  Gerome,  68;  Gois,  39; 
GreVin,  A.,  193,  194;  Guilbert, 
229;  Henner,  69;  Henriquel- 
Dupont,  194  ;  Ingres,  41 5  Lau- 
rens,  J.  P.,  68;  Lefeuvre,  39; 
Lefuel,  95 ;  Leighton,  Lord,  78  ; 
Maignan,  A.,  229;  Manet,  E. 
(died  1883),  69;  Meissonier, 
68,  158,  159 ;  Millet,  Aime,  164  ; 
Neuville,  A.  de,  67,  68;  Nieu- 
werkerke,  114,  194 ;  Noe,  de, 
see  Cham ;  Orleans,  Princess 
Marie  d',  40;  Pichio,  E.,  108, 
109;  Popelin,  C.,  194;  Puvis 
de  Chavannes,  235  ;  Rude,  39  ; 
Viollet-le-Duc,  95 ;  Willette,  182, 
183 

Arton,  a  Panamisfc,  221 
Authors  and  scholars:  About,  E., 
90  ;  Accard,  J.,  135  ;  Alexis,  P., 
135,  235;  Angier,  Emite,  60, 
83,  92, 169 ;  Arene,  P..  135,  224  ; 
Banville,  T.  de,  135, 163  ;  Barbey 
d'Aurevilly,  91  ;  Barbier,  J.,  42, 
187  ;  Barriere,  T.,  128,  210,  233  ; 
Barthel&ny,  St.  Hilaire,  213; 
Becque,  H.,  233,  237  ;  Bergerat, 
135,  223;  Bibliophile  Jacob, 
139;  Bisson,  A.,  187;  Blanc, 
Charles  and  Louis,  90 ;  Bois- 
gobey,  F.  du,  46,  163  ;  Bonne- 
tain,  P.,  135:  Bornier,  H.  de, 
136, 169,  197  ;  Bourges,  E.,  226  ; 
Bourget,  P.,  169  ;  Brieux,  235  ; 
Brunetiere,  F.,  202 ;  Busnach, 
W.,  28  ;  Ceard,  H.,  135  ;  Champ- 
fleury,  152  ;  Chivot,  187  ;  Clair- 
ville,  28,  30 ;  Claretie,  200,  220, 
see  also  Stage  (Comeclie  Fran- 
caise,  management) ;  Coppe'e, 
F.,  60,  174,  201,  220,  232; 


Cuvillier-Flcury,    145 ;     Darme- 
eteter,  204  ;    Daudet,  Alphonse, 
27, 67, 121,  129, 226, 234  ;  Delair. 
P.,    184;     Delavigne,    C.,    43; 
Delpit,  A.,  197  ;    Demolins,  E., 
231,    232;     D'Ennery,    43,    44, 
237  ;  Desaugiers,  181 ;  Descaves, 
L.,  135,  226  ;   Donnay,  M.,  243  ; 
Droz,  G.,  211,  212;    Drumont, 
E.,     205;      Ducange,     V.,     64; 
Dumas  fils,   26,   120,   127,   128, 
136.    184,    210,    227;     Dupont, 
Pierre,  181 ;  Duru,  187  ;  Duray, 
V.,  204  ;  Erckmann-Chatrian,  59, 
162  ;    Ferrier,  P.,  184  ;    Feuillet, 
O.,   162,    169,   223;     Feval,   P.. 
152 ;      Flaubert,     G.,     67,     87 ; 
Frapie,     L.,     226 ;      Gaboriau, 
Einile,  45,  46:    Gaillardet,  62; 
Gallet,  L.,  185;    Gautier,  Mme. 
Judith,  226  ;  Gautier,  Theophile, 
46,  47,  223;    Gefiroy,  G.,  226; 
Gilles,  P.,  184 ;   Girardin,  E.  de, 
90 ;    Goncourt,   E.   and  J.   de., 
67,  135,  225,  226 ;   Gondinet,  E., 
129;     Grenville-Murray,    E.    C., 
71,  72;    Guiches,  135;    Halevy, 
Ludovic,  26,  129  et  seq.  ;   Havel , 
E.,  152  ;  Hennique,  L.,  135,  226  ; 
Heredia,J.M.de,220;  Hermant, 
Abel,  222,  223 ;    Hervieu,  Paul, 
210,  232,  244;    Hervilly,  E.  d', 
199  ;     Houssaye,    ArsSne,    225  ; 
Houssaye,    Henri,    225;     Hugo, 
Victor,   67,   90.    102,    103,    140, 
302,   303;    Ibsen,   135;    Janin, 
Jules,  47  et  seq. ;   Jerrold,  Blan- 
chard,    91;     Koning,    V.,    31; 
Labiche,    92,    187;     Laboulaye, 
139;  Lalanne,  L.,  236  ;  Lavedan, 
H.,  135,  169,  184,  235  ;    Leconte 
de  Lisle,  204  ;    Lemaitre,  Jules, 
182,  210 ;   Lemoinne,  John,  192, 
193 ;  Littre,  E.,  92 ;  Loti,  P.,  169 ; 
Mac6,  Jean,  204;    Magnier,  E., 
207  ;  Mallarme,  S.,  236 ;  Mantz, 
P.,  21J  ;    Margueritte,  P.,   135, 
226;    Martin,  Henri,  90;    Mau- 
passant,  G.   de,   67,    197,   209; 
Meilhac,    H.,     26,      112,      184, 
223;  Mend&J,  Catulle,  135,   180, 
201,  223,    244;    Metenier,    135; 


INDEX 


309 


Meurice,  Paul,  235  ;  Millaud,  A., 
112;  Mirbeau,  O.,  226;  Mohl, 
M.  and  Mme.,  139;  Monselet, 
C.,  91,  180;  "Monsieur  de 
1'Orohestre,"  see  Mortier  ;  Monte1- 
gut,  E.,  211,  212;  Mortier,  A., 
129,  131 ;  Murger,  233  ;  Musset, 
A.  de,  174;  Musset,  P.  de,  87; 
Nadaud,  G.,  181,  197;  Nau, 
J.  A.,  226;  Nuitter,  C.,  32; 
Ohnet,  G.,  109  ;  Ordonneau,  M., 
186 ;  Pailleron,  E.,  83,  136,  195, 
201,  232  ;  Paris,  G.,  227  ;  Paris, 
P.,  92;  Parodi,  199;  Porto 
Riche,  G.  de,  135;  PreVost, 
M.,  169;  Reinach,  Jules,  206; 
Renan,  E.,  192;  Richebourg, 
E.,  44;  Richepin,  J.,  180,  195, 
253  ;  Rogeard,  224,  225  ;  Rosny 
brothers,  226;  Rostand,  E., 
201,  233,  253;  Sand,  G.,  67; 
Sarcey,  F.,  49,  50,  237  ;  Sardou, 
V.,  32,  113,  122,  127,  128,  136, 
137,  183,  200,  204 ;  Scherer,  E., 
92;  Schiller,  42;  Scribe,  E., 
33;  Silvestre,  A.,  201,  243; 
Siraudin,  30,  31 ;  Spiers,  Prof., 
264  ;  Sully-Prudhomme,  220  ; 
Taine,  H.,  197;  Theuriet,  A., 
227;  Tolstoy,  135;  Uchard, 
Mario,  197  ;  Vacquerie,  A.,  200  ; 
Valabregue,  186;  Valles,  J., 
140;  Vandal,  A.,  227  ;  Verlaine, 
225,  227  ;  Verne,  J.,  26  ;  Vigny, 
A.  de,  212;  Villiers  de  1'Isle- 
Adam,  91,  135 ;  Villemessant, 
H.  de,  83,  207  et  seq. ;  Voltaire 
and  coffee,  173;  Woestyne,  I. 
de,  100;  Wolff,  Albert,  163; 
Zola,  Emile,  28,  49,  67,  129,  135, 
136,  169,  185,  187,  227,  234 
Aviation,  141,  237,  238 

BALLS,  public,  25,  196 
Bankruptcies,  see  Failures. 
Bars,  drinking,  179 
Beaux  Arts,  Ecole  des,  265,  266 
Betting-hells,  286.     See  also  Pari- 

mutuel. 

Blondin,  a  Panamist,  203 
Books    mentioned,    some :     '  Ami 

Fritz,  L','  69 ;   '  ADDOUT  supreme, 


L','  91 ;  '  Annee  Terrible,  L','  67 ; 
'  Apresmidi  d'un  Faune,  L','  236 ; 
'A  quoi  tient  la  sup&riorite  des 
Anglo-Saxons,'  231,  232 ;  'Art 
d'Stre  Grand-pere,  L','  67;  'Bossu, 
Le,'  152 ,  '  Catechisme  du  Soldat, 
Le,'  201 ;  '  Contes  cruels,'  91 ; 
'Dame  aux  Camelias,  La,'  211 ; 
Baudot's,  some  of,  27,  67,  234 ; 
'  Diaboliques,  Les,'  92 ;  '  Epicure's 
Year  Book,  The,'  91 ;  '  Force 
ennemie,  La,'  226;  Goncourt's, 
some  of,  67,  226;  'High  Life 
in  France,'  71,  72;  '  Histoire 
du  41eme  Fauteuil,'  225; 
'  Jeanne  d'Arc,'  Wallon's,  41, 
43  ;  '  Maitre  de  Forges,  Le,'  109, 
110;  'Maternelle,  La,'  226; 
'  Monsieur  Lecoq,'  45  ;  '  Mon- 
sieur, Madame  et  B4be,'  212 ; 
'  Odes  Funambulesques,'  163 ; 
'Old  Age  of  Lecoq,'  46;  '  So- 
ci6t6  fran9aise  pendant  la  Revo- 
lution, La,'  18 ;  '  Societe"  frangaise 
sous  le  Directoire,  La,'  18 ; 
'  Soci6t6  mourante,  La,'  201 ; 
'  Soirees  Parisiennes,  Les,'  129  ; 
'  Syndicalism,'  R.  MacDonald's, 
246  ;  Zola's,  some  of,  67,  169,  234 
Brasseries  and  Cafes :  Beer,  con- 
sumption of,  175 ;  brasseries, 
176  et  seq. ;  cabarets  of  Mont- 
martre,  179,  180,  181,  182,  183 ; 
cafes,  20,  172,  173,  174,  179; 
traffic  in  drink,  179.  See  also 
Bars 

CAFES,  see  Brasseries 
Chalons,  review  at,  220 
Cbantilly,  estate  of,  234 
Chauchard,  M.,  158 
Compiegne,  incident  at,  220 
Composers,  musicians  :   Auber,  26, 
27;      Audran,     66,     112,     185; 
Bizet,  G.,  27,  51 ;    Bruneau,  28, 
185,   186,   232;    Chabrier,  243; 
Ccedes.  37  ;   David,  F.,  84,  302 ; 
D61ibes,     L.,     112,     164,     258; 
Dubois,   T.,    137;    Godard.   B., 
113,    210;     Gounod,    42,    116, 
197 ;  Gretry,  131 ;  Guiraud,  E., 
194;    HaleVy,   L6on,   43.    139; 

x  3 


310 


INDEX 


Herve,  112,  113;  Holmes,  Au- 
gusta, 210  ;  Honnore,  L.,  223  ; 
Lalo  E.,  113,  194 ;  Lara,  I.  de, 
243;  Lecocq,  C.,  31,  32,  112; 
Litolff,  H.,  27,  52  et  seq.,  164  ; 
Markowski,  56  ;  Mascagni,  200  ; 
Masse,  V.,  42,  52,  59,  92 ;  Mas- 
senet,  66,  112,  113,  184,  200, 
232,  243;  Mespager,  A.,  185; 
Metra,  O.,  54 ;  Meyerbeer,  33; 
Nadaud,  see  Authors ;  Offen- 
bach, J.,  32  et  seq.,  65,  82,  87  ; 
Paladilhe,  113;  Pasdeloup,  93, 
116;  Pessard,  223,  Piccini, 
131  ;  Planquette,  K.,  66,  113; 
Puccini,  137,  235;  Pugets,  the, 
243;  Eeyer,  E.,  113,  185; 
Rossini,  114,  115;  Saint-Saens, 
C.,  66,  112,  200  233 ;  Thomas, 
A.,  112,  116,  224;  Varney,  L., 
112;  Verdi,  200;  Vizentini,  A., 
55 

Crime,  law,  police :  Anthropo- 
metrical  service,  94,  95,  283 ; 
crimes,  56, 84, 102, 144  (anarchist), 
145  (Legion  of  Honour),  147, 
160,  188  et  seq.  (anarchist),  201 
et  seq.  (anarchist),  281  et  seq.,  299 ; 
expulsions,  283 ;  investigating 
magistrates,  284  et  seq.,  288. 
Law  Courts:  278  et  seq. — 278 
(Council  of  State  and  Prud- 
hommes),  279  (commercial  court), 

280  (civil   and    appeal   courts), 

281  (police     and     correctional 
courts),  282  (assizes) ;   Legion  of 
Honour     scandals,     145,      162. 
Police:    7,   179,  283,    284,    289, 
see  also  under  Functionaries,  &c. ; 
Republican    Guard,    284 ;     sus- 
pensory law  (sursis,  loi  de),  283. 
See  also  Failures,  financial,  and 
Panama. 


DANCING  Halls,  25,  196 
Delahante,  M.,  158 
Derifert-Rochereau,  M.,  149 
Diamonds,  crown,  142 
Divorce  Law,  140 

Dreyfus  case,  205,  230,  234,  235, 
238  et  seq.,  242 


ECCLESIASTICS:  Assumptionist 
Fathers,  242 ;  Didon,  Father,  102, 
183  ;  Dupanloup,  Bishop,  92  ; 
Freppel,  Bishop,  164 ;  Jesuits, 
88,  89;  Ollivier,  Father,  229; 
religious  orders,  various,  88,  89 

Education :  Academy  of  Paris,  265 ; 
Arts  et  Metiers,  266;  athletics, 
231  ;  Caisse  des  Ecoles,  262 ; 
illiteracy  among  recruits,  268, 
269  ;  languages,  foreign,  264  ; 
schools  of  all  categories,  3,  261  et 
seq. ;  University  of  Paris,  265 

Eiffel,  M.,  154.  See  also  Tower, 
under  Paris. 

Exhibition,  Vienna,  76 

Exhibitions,  Paris,  see  under  Paris. 

FAUBOURG  St. -Germain,  the,  70 
Faudel-Phillips,  Sir  G.,  229 
Fete  nationale,  see  under  Paris; 
Figueur,  Marie-Therese,  200 
Financial  failures,  86  (Credit  mo- 
bilier),     105    (Union    g^nerale), 
149  (Societe  des  metaux),   167, 
(Mace  &  Co.),  191  (Banque  des 
Chemins-de-fer)  ;       bankruptcies 
in  Paris,  279.     See  also  Panama. 
Fine  Arts  Ministry,  114 
Finland,  education  in,  217 
Foreigners,  registration  of,  148 
Functionaries,     politicians,     presi- 
dents, etc. :  Allemane,  246  ;   An- 
drieux  (police),  100 ;  Arago,  Em., 
224  ;  Baihaut,  203  ;  Barbes,  89  ; 
Barthelemy-Saint   Hilaire,    213; 
Baudry  d'Asson,  99  ;    Berenger, 
Senator,  195  ;  Bismarck,  P.  von. 
36,  46,  77,  101,  235;    Blanqui, 
A.,   89,   90 ;     Briand,   A.,   247  ; 
Brisson,  H.,  140,  301 ;    Broglie, 
Duke  de,  66  ;   Brousse,  P.,  246  ; 
Buffet,  242  ;  Bulow,  Count,  later 
Prince,  von,  240,  241 ;   Burdeau, 
A.,  203  ;   Carnot,  President,  146, 
149,    160,    190 ;  '  Casimir-Perier, 
President,  202,  205;   Challamel- 
Lacour,  224  ;   Charnay,  M.,  201  ; 
Claude  (police),  45, 46 ;  Chevalier, 
A.,  75 ;   Clemenceau,  208  ;   Con- 
stans,    146;     Cousin,    V.,    213; 
deputies,  Paris,  105  ;  Deroulede, 


INDEX 


311 


P.,  143,  145,  241,  242 ;  Drouyn 
de  Lhuys,  95  ;  Duc-Quercy,  154  ; 
Dupuy,  C.,  205,  242;  Failures, 
President,  218  ;  Faure,  President, 
206,  219.  220,  232,  238  et  seq.  ; 
Ferry,  J.,  98,  103,  140,  166,  197  ; 
Floquet,  224 ;  Forge,  A.  de  la, 
194;  Fortou,  de,  66;  Frey- 
cinet,  de,  98, 140, 169  ;  Gambetta, 
67,  85,  86,  103,  104,  144,  171, 
172,  302;  Goron  (police),  298; 
Gragnon  (police),  145  ;  Gramont, 
Duke  de,  86  ;  Grave,  Jean,  201 ; 
Grevy,  President,  84,  139,  140, 
145,  162;  Grousset,  P.,  231; 
Guerin,  J.,  242 ;  Guesde,  J., 
246  ;  Guyot,  Y.,  49, 146  ;  Habert, 
Maroel,  241 ;  Hanotaux,  G.,  219  ; 
Haussmann,  Baron,  165  et  seq. ; 
Herold,  M.,302;  Krantz,76;  La- 
bruyere,  154 ;  Lepine  (police),196, 
289  ;  Le  Play,  F.,  75  ;  Loubet, 
President,  219,  220,  241,  242, 243, 
245, 251 ;  Loze  (police),  196 ;  Mac- 
donald,  11.,  246  et  seq. ;  Mace 
(police),  289;  MacMahon,  Ml., 
President,  67,  80,  83,  84,  196. 
197;  Meline,  219;  Metternich, 
Prince,  214 ;  Michel,  Louise, 
160  ;  Mores,  M.  de,  160  ;  Nieu- 
werkerke.  Count,  114 ;  Passy,  H., 
86;  Pataud,  250;  Pelletans, 
the,  205 ;  Poubelle,  161 ;  Pyat, 
F.,  102  ;  Richard,  Maurice,  114  ; 
Rochefort,  H.,  89,  100,  101 ,  206 ; 
Rouvier,  167  ;  Say,  L.,  224.  227  ; 
Simon,  J.,  67,  224;  Sorel,  G., 
248;  Spuller,  E.,  224;  Thiers, 
President,  67,  88,  213 ;  his  wife, 
88 ;  Thomas,  Albert,  246 ;  Trochu, 
Gl.,  President,  224;  Waldeck- 
Rousseau>  138,  242,  250;  Wa- 
lewski,  Count,  171 ;  Wallon,  H., 
41,  42  ;  Wilson,  D.,  145  ;  Wimp- 
ffen,  Count,  106 

GALHSNANI,  W.,  162 

General  Council  of  the  Seine,  7 

Gobert  prizes  (Academy),  231 

Godillot,  M.,  206 

Grant,  A.  S.,  81 

Guillotine,  the,  147 


HYDROPHOBIA,  143,  144.    See  also 

Pasteur,  under  Scientists. 
Hypnotism,  94,  95 

INSANE,  number  of,  in  France,  293, 

294 
Institute  of  France,  212 

JOAN  OF  ABC,  39  et  seq. 
KAULLA,  Mme.  de,  101 

LABOBI,  Maitre,  189 

Labour :      Confederation    generate 

du  Travail,  246  et  seq. ;   strikes, 

249,  250  ;   syndicates,  138,  250  ; 

syndicalism,  245  et  seq.     See  also 

Political  incidents. 
League  of  Patriots,  146 
Lebaudy,  M.,  senior,  106 
Legion  of  Honour  scandals,  144, 145 
Leon,  Count,  171 
Lesseps,  F.  de,  203  ;  his  son  Charles, 

203 

Loan,  state,  167 
Loans,  Parisian,  see  under  Paris. 

MARSEILLAISE,  the,  132 
Mitrailleuses,  early,  86 
Monte  Carlo  bank  broke,  183 
Montmartre,  see  Brasseries  and  Cafes. 
Montyon  prizes  (Academy),  230 

NATURALISATION  laws,  33,  34 
Newspapers  and  periodicals  men- 
tioned :  '  Bien  public,  Le,'  49  ; 
'Charivari,  Le,'  93;  '  Evene- 
ment,  L','  207,  208;  'Figaro, 
Le,'  117,  163,  207,  208;  'Gil 
Bias,  Le,'  134;  '  Republique 
Fran§aise,  La,'  174  ;  '  Revue 
Syndicalists,  La,'  246  ;  '  Temps, 
Le,'  166  ;  •  Voix  du  Peuple,  La,' 
250 

Nobility,  generally,  198,  199  ;  Bas- 
sano,  Duke  de,  236  ;  Biencourt, 
Marquis  de,  105 ;  Bonnemains, 
Viscountess  de,  146,  147 ;  Cas- 
tiglione,  Countess,  237 ;  Caux, 
Marquis  de,  151  ;  Christiaiii, 
Baron,  241  ;  Civry,  Countess 
de,  87 ;  Decazee,  Duke,  198 ; 


312 


INDEX 


Haussonville,  Count  d',  198 ; 
Lucinge,  Prince  de,  199 ;  Mackau, 
Baron  de,  229;  Montebello, 
Mme.  de,  221 ;  Mortemart,  Duke 
de,  198;  Plceuc,  Marquis  de, 
105 ;  Reinach,  Baron  de,  207  ; 
Rohan,  Duke  de,  198 ;  Roths- 
child, Baron  A.  de,  191 ;  Sagan, 
Duke  and  Prince  de,  222 

OPERAS,  operettas,  ballets,  songs, 
etc. :  '  Adele  de  Ponthieu,'  131 ; 
'Africaine,  L','  33,  82;  'L'Ami 
Fritz,'  200;  'Arlesienne,  L',' 
27,  121 ;  '  Aude  et  Roland,'  223  ; 
'  Barbe-bleue,'  35  ;  '  Basoche, 
La,'  185  ;  '  Beaucoup,  de  Bruit 
pour  Rien,'  243  ;  '  Belle  Hel&ie, 
La,'  35;  ' Boheme,  La,'  235; 
'Boite  a  Pandore,  La,'  52; 
*  Brigands,  Les,'  35  ;  '  Bris6is,' 
243;  'Cabaret  des  Lilas,'  87; 
'  Capitaine  Fracasse,'  82  ;  '  Car- 
men.' 27,  51 ;  '  Cendrillon,'  243  ; 
' Cenerentola,  La,1  243;  'Cent 
Vierges,  Les,'  35,  43 ;  '  Charles 
VI,'  43  ;  '  Chilpe'ric,'  113  ;  '  Clair 
de  Lune,'  37 ;  '  Cloches  de 
Corneville,'  66,  83  ;  '  Coeur  et  la 
Main,  Le,'  32,  112;  '  Contes 
d'Hoffmann,'  35,  112;  'Death 
song,  Gascon's,'  65 ;  '  Dejanire,' 
233;  'Dinorah,'  33;  'Duchess 
of  Dantzic,'  200;  P.  Dupont's  , 
songs,  181 ;  '  En  rev'nant  de  la 
Revue,'  143  ;  '  Etoile  du  Nord, 
L','  33  ;  '  Falstaff,'  200 ;  •  Fan- 
chonette,  La,'  115 ;  '  Fete  de 
Mirza,  La,'  131;  '  Fille  de 
Madame  Angot,  La,'  29  et  seq.  ;  \ 
'  Fille  du  Tambour-major,  La,' 
35;  '  Frangoise  de  Rimini,'  112  ; 
'  Galatee,'  42 ; '  Giralda,  La,'  115 ; 
'  Girofte  Girofla,'  32;  'Grande 
Duchesse  de  Gerolstein,  La,'  35, 
36;  'Grand  Mogol,  Le,'  66; 
'Hamlet,'  116;  '  Heloise  et 
Abelard,'  27;  'Henri  VIII,' 
112;  'Herodiade,'  112;  'Hugue- 
nots, Les,'  33  ;  '  Iphigenia  in 
Tauris,'  131 ;  '  Jeanne  d'Arc,' 
42,  187  :  ' Jean  de  Nivelle,'  112  ; 


'Jocelyn,'  113;  'Jolje  Fille  de 
Perth,  La,'  27;  'Jolie  Parfu- 
meuse,  La,'  35,  43  ;  '  Jolie  Per- 
sane,  La,'  32  ;  '  Jour  et  la  Nuit, 
Le,'  32;  '  Lakme,'  112;  'Ma- 
dame Favart,'  35 ;  '  Madame 
1'Arohiduc,'  35,  43;  '  Manon,' 
113;  '  Mariage  aux  Lanternes, 
Le,'  35  ;  '  Marseillaise,  La,'  132  ; 
'  Mascotte,  La,'  112 ;  '  Messaline,' 
243;  'Messidor,'  185,  232; 
•Mignon,'  51,  117;  'Miss  Hel- 
yett,'  185 ;  '  Montagne  noire,  La,' 
210 :  Montmartre  songs,  181, 
182  ;  '  Mousquetaires  au  Cou- 
vent,  Les,'  112  ;  Nadaud's  songs, 
181 ;  '  Navarraise,  La,'  200  ; 
'  Noces  de  Jeannette,  Les,'  59, 
115;  'CEil  creve,  L',1  113; 
'  Orphee  aux  Enters,'  35,  82 ; 
'Ouragan,  L','  185;  'Pardon 
de  Ploermel,  Le,'  33;  'Patrie,' 
113  ;  '  Paul  et  Virginie,'  52,  59, 
83 ;  '  Pecheurs  de  Perles,  Les,' 
27 ;  «  Perichole,  La,'  35  ;  '  Petit 
Due,  Le,'  32,  82  ;  '  Petit  Faust, 
Le,'  113  'Petite  Marine,  La,' 
32 ;  '  PhryneY  200 ;  '  Prophete, 
Le,'  33  ;  '  Premier  Jour  de  Bon- 
heur,  Le,'  26;  Mme.  Puget's 
songs,  243  ;  '  Reine  Topaze,  La,' 
116;  'Reve,  Le,'  185;  'Rip,' 
113;  'Robert  le  Diable,'  33; 
'Roi  Carotte,  Le,'  35;  'Roi  de 
Lahore,  Le,'  66 ;  '  Roi  d'Ys,  Le,1 
112;  'Roi  1'a  dit,  Le,'  43; 
'  Salammbo,'  185  ;  '  Samson  et 
Dalila,'  66  ;  '  Sapho,'  232  ;  '  Si- 
gurd,' 113  ;  '  Templiers,  Les,* 
62  ;  '  Thais,'  201  ;  '  Timbale 
d' Argent,  La,'  43 ;  '  Tosca,  La,1 
137  ;  '  Vie  Parisienne,  La,'  35  ; 
'  Vivandiere,  La,'  210 

PAINTINGS  mentioned :  '  The  An- 
gelus,'  149,  158;  'Death  of 
Marceau,'  68 ;  '  Execution  of 
Duke  d'Enghien,'  68;  Father 
Joseph  ('Eminence  grise'),  68; 
'  Horse-fair,'  237  ;  Joan  of  Arc, 
various,  40,  41 ;  '  Last  Cart- 
ridges,5 67  ;  '  Moliere  at  Auteuil,' 


INDEX 


313 


63  ;    '  Ploughing   in   Nivernais,* 
237  ;     «  1814  '    (<  Campagne    de 
France'),  158,  159 
Panama  Canal  scandals,  98,   148, 

154,  195,  203,  208,  221 
Pari-mutuel  betting,  168,  287 
Paris : 

Accidents  in,  281,299 

Area  and  situation  of,  1 

Asylums,  290-294 

Buildings  and  monuments : 
Alexander  III  bridge,  219 ; 
chapel,  memorial  (Charity  ba- 
zaar), 229 ;  church  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,  191,  192 ;  Court 
of  Accounts,  15.  Palaces  : 
Tuileries,  5,  14 ;  Legion  of 
Honour,  15  ;  Trocad6ro,  78,  79  ; 
Mazarin,  212 ;  Grand  and  Petit 
Pttlais,  252.  Statues :  generally, 
2 ;  balloonists,  238 ;  Dumas, 
139  ;  Gambetta,  171,  172  ;  Joan 
of  Arc,  39,  40;  Pasteur,  215; 
Republic,  245.  Tower,  Eiffel,  150 

Children,  see  farther  on,  under 
Population. 

Clocks,  public,  98 

Dustbins,  161 

Exhibitions:  electrical,  103, 104, 
131 ;  international,  in  1855  and 
1867.. 73,  74,  75;  in  1878.. 66, 
76  et  seq. ;  in  1889 . .  149  et  seq.  ; 
in  1900.. 219,  251  et  seq, 

Fetes,  national,  102,  140,  141, 
151,  160,  191,  192  (centenary  of 
Republic) 

Fire-brigade,  289;  fires,  117 
(Ope"ra  Comique),  142,  160,  228 
et  seq.  (Charity  bazaar),  252,  289, 
290  (Comedie) 

Flats  and  lodgings,  2 

Fountains,  2 ;  Wallace,  161 

Grand  Prix  race,  100,  144 

Haussmannization  of  Paris, 
165  et  seq. 

Historical  and  other  episodes  : 
The  Terror  and  the  Directory,  18, 
19 ;  the  Napoleonic  era,  19 ; 
after  Waterloo,  20,  21 ;  German 
occupation  in  1871.. 21;  after 
the  Commune,  8,  9,  16,  17,  22,  23, 
29  ;  great  explosion,  84  ;  Nihil- 


ists, 154  ;  subsidences,  84  :  tor- 
nado, 226,  227  ;  winters,  severe, 
97,  102,  155 

Hospitals,  22,  23,  290  et  seq. 

Libraries,  3 

Lighting,  street,  2 

Loans,  municipal,  9  et  seq.,  202, 
203 

Mont-de-Pi6t6,  155-157 

Morgue,  298 

Municipality,  6  et  sea..  147, 148, 
154,  202,  222 

Night  refuges,  294  et  seq. 

Pleasure  grounds,  1,  2 

Police,  7.  See  also  separate 
entries,  Crime  and  Functionaries. 

Population :  generally,  3,  4,  5  ; 
foreigners,  2 ;  births,  5,  254, 
256  ;  medical  men  and  midwives, 
255;  nurses,  257,  259-261— 
children,  assisted,  256-258 ; 
creches,  258  et  seq. ;  garderies, 
262,  263;  orphanages,  258— re- 
cruits, 267  et  seq. ;  marriages,  4, 
5,  269  et  seq. ;  diseases,  (cholera) 
140,  (influenza)  154,  (generally) 
291,  300,  301— infirmity  and  old- 
age  allowances,  293;  deaths, 
suicides,  297  et  seq.,  300  ;  drown- 
ings,  accidental,  299  ;  funerals, 
301  et  seq. ;  cemeteries,  330 ; 
cremation,  305 

Post,  telegraph  and  telephone 
services,  2,  3,  157 

Rentals,  2 

Schools,  3.  See  also  separate 
entries,  Education. 

Seine  department,  council  and 
prefect,  67 

Streets,  length  of,  1 

Transport  services :  cabs,  buses, 
trams,  2,  103  ;  railways,  2,  143  ; 
riverboats,  97 

Trees  in  Paris,  2 

See  separate  entries  for  Brasseries 
and  Cafe's,   Education,   Political 
incidents  and  Unrest. 
Pasteur  Institute,  143 
Pereire,  Isaac,  86 
Pierrefonds,  castle  of,  I)."* 
Plays:     '  Abbe"    Constantin,'    65; 
adaptations,  English,  of  French 


314 


INDEX 


plays,  186,  187;  « Aiglon,  L',' 
253 ;  '  Ami  des  Femmes,  L',' 
210;  'Ami  Fritz,  L','  59,  119; 
'Antigone,'  200;  'Article  231, 
L','  184  ;  '  Assommoir,  L','  83  ; 
'  Auberge  des  Adrets,  L',' 
(Robert  Macaire).  63  ;  '  Aven- 
turiere,  L','  60  ;  '  Babiole,'  83  ; 
'  Beb<§,  Le,*  83  ;  '  Belle  Sainara, 
La,'  199;  *  Berceau.  Le,'  235; 
'  Bossu,  Le,'  152  ;  '  Britannicus,' 
130;  'Cabotins,  Les,'  291; 
'  Camille,'  184  ;  '  Capitaine  Fra- 
casse,'  223;  'Catherine,'  235; 
'Cid,  Le,'  130;  '  Cinna,'  130; 
Conscience  de  1' Enfant,  La,'  243  ; 
'  Corbeaux,  Les,'  233  ;  '  Cyrano 
de  Bergerac,'  233  ;  '  Dame  aux 
Camelias,  La,'  128,  201,  211 ; 
'  Danicheff,  Les,'  127  ;  '  Daniel 
Rochat,'  122;  '  Dedale,  Le,' 
244;  'Demi-Monde,  Le,'  184; 
'  Denise,'  136  ;  '  Depute  de  Bom- 
bignac,  Le,'  187  ;  '  Deux  Orphe- 
lines,  Les,'  43  ;  '  Diane  de  Lys,' 
211;  'Diplomacy,'  122;  '  Di- 
vorgons,'  136 ;  '  Enigme,  L',' 
244;  'Ete  de  la  Saint  Martin, 
LY  120;  'Etincelle,  L','  83; 
'Famille,  Une,'  184;  '  Famille 
Benoiton,  La,'  128  ;  c  Faux  Bons- 
hommes,  Les,'  128,  210;  '  F6- 
dora,'  122,  128;  c  Femme  de 
Tabarin,  La,'  201  ;  «  Fernande,' 
128  ;  '  Feu  Toupinel,'  186 ;  '  Fille 
de  Roland,'  136;  '  Filles  de 
Marbre,  Les,'  128;  '  Fils  de 
Famille,  Le,'  65 ;  '  Fourcham- 
bault,  Les,'  83 ;  '  Francillon,' 
136;  'Frou-Frou,'  65,  195; 
'Gascon,  Le,'  65;  'Grace  de 
Dieu,  La,'  44 ;  '  Greve  des 
Forgerons,  La,'  232  ;  «  Griselidis,' 
184  ;  '  Grosse  Fortune/  223  ; 
'  Haine,  La,'  43  ;  '  Horace,'  130  ; 
'  Iphig&rie,'  130  ;  '  Ironmaster,' 
see  '  Maitre  de  Forges '  ;  '  Jeanne 
d'Arc,'  42,  187  ;  '  Juif  Polonais, 
Le,'  195  ;  '  Kean,'  64  ;  '  Loi  de 
1'Homme,  La,'  232,  244 ; «  Luthier 
de  Cr&none,  Le,'  60  ;  '  Madame 
Sans-Gene,1  200;  'Maitre  de 


Forges,  Le,'  109,  110,  136; 
'  Mam'zelle  Nitouche,'  112 ; 
'  Manon  Roland,'  223  ;  '  Mariage 
de  Figaro,  Le,'  130  ;  '  Martyre, 
La,'  235  ;  '  M6gere  apprivois6e, 
La,'  184  ;  '  Mieux  vaut  douceur,1 
232,  233  ;  '  Mieux  vaut  violence,* 
233  ;  '  Monde  oil  Ton  s'amuse, 
Le,'  195  ;  '  Monde  oil  1'on  s'en- 
nuie,  Le,'  136 ;  '  Montjoye,' 
223;  'Nana,'  136;  '  Niniche,' 
83  ;  '  Noces  d'Attila,  Les,'  136  ; 
'  Nos  Intimes,'  128 ;  '  Oncle 
Sam,  L','  128  ;  '  Pair  of  Spec- 
tacles,  A,'  187  ;  '  Pardon,  Le,' 
210  ;  '  Parisiene,  La,'  184  ;'  Par 
le  Glaive,'  195 ;  '  Passant,  Le,' 
60;  'Pere  prodigue,  Le,'  200; 
« Petits  Oiseaux,  Les,'  184,  187 ; 
'Phedre,'  130;  « Planteur,  Le,' 
186;  'Polyeucte,'  130;  'Pour 
la  Couronne,'  210  ;  '  Princesso 
de  Bagdad,  La,'  136  ;  '  Princesse 
Georges,  La,'  26  ;  '  Rabagas,'  32, 
128;  'Reine  Juana,  La,'  199; 
'Roi  Carotte,  Le,'  32;  'Ro- 
manesques, Les,'  201 ;  '  Round 
the  World,'  see  '  Tour  du  Monde  ' ; 
'  Security  des  Families,  La,'  186  ; 
'  Seraphine,'  128  ;  '  Severe  Tor- 
elli,'  201  ;  shadow  plays,  various, 
182;  '  Struense>,'  235  ; '  Surprises 
du  Divorce,  Les,'  187 ;  '  Tenailles, 
Les,'  210, 244 ;  '  Therese  Raquin,' 
187;  'Thermidor,'  183;  'Tor- 
rent, Le,'  243  ;  '  Tosca,  La,'  137  ; 
'  Tour  de  Nesle,  La,1  62,  63 ; 
'  Tour  du  Monde  en  80  jours, 
Le,'  26,  83  ;  '  Trente  Ans  ou  la 
Vie  d'un  Joueur,'  64  ;  '  Tricoche 
et  Cacolet,'  26  ;  '  True  d' Arthur, 
Le,'  187  ;  '  Vie  de  Boheme^  La,' 
233  ;  '  Visite  de  Noces,  La,'  26, 
184 

Poland,  illiteracy  in,  217 

Political  incidents  and  unrest,  29, 
66,  80,  83,  84  (MacMahon),  85, 
86,  88  (Thiers's  statue),  89  (Com- 
munist amnesty),  98,  99  (Church 
and  State),  104,  105  (elections), 
139  (King  Alfonso),  140  (labour), 
141  (elections),  142  (princes 


INDEX 


315 


expelled),  143-147  (chiefly  Bou- 
langer),  147  (elections),  148 
(labour),  151  (labour),  154  (Ni- 
hilists), 159  (Duke  d'Orleans), 
160  (labour  riots),  188  et  seq.,  191 
(Anarchists),  195,  196  (Quartier 
Latin  riot),  201,  202  (Anarchists), 
203  (Panama),  221  (legislative 
conflict),  234  (Dreyfus),  241 
(attempt  at  coup  d'etat),  242 
(fort  Chabrol  and  Church  and 
State),  245  (labour),  246  et  seq. 
(syndicalism  and  strikes).  See 
also  separate  headings,  Dreyfus 
case  and  Panama. 

Pouget,  247 

Premium  bonds,  see  Loans,  under 
Paris. 

BATTAZZI,  Mme.,  145 

Regent  diamond,  142 

Registration,  see  Foreigners. 

Robert  the  Devil,  100 

Royalties,  foreign :  Alphonse  XII, 
139  ;  Brunswick,  Charles,  Duke 
of,  87,  88;  Dom  Carlos  of 
Portugal,  142,  150;  Edward 

VII  when  Prince  of  Wales,  80, 
81,    150,    218,    251  ;     Frederick 

VIII  of  Denmark   when   Crown 
Prince,  81  ;   Frederick,  Empress, 
168 ;     Humbert   of   Italy,   251  ; 
Monaco,  Prince  of,  239  ;   Nicho- 
las   II  of    Russia,   216  et  seq. ; 
Victoria,   Queen,  232;    William 
II,  Emperor,  168,  239,  240 

Royalties,  French :  Louis  XIV, 
his  throne,  142.  House  of  Orleans  i 
Louis-Philippe,  114 ;  Alen9on, 
Duke  d',  138  ;  Alengon,  Duchess 
d',  229;  Amelie,  Queen,  142; 
Aumale,  Duke  d',  119,  138,  145, 
233 ;  Marie,  Princess,  see  under 
Artists ;  Orleans,  Duke  d',  159, 
206,  234,  242;  Paris,  Count  de, 
142,  203.  Bonapartes  :  Prince 
Imperial,  103 ;  Bonaparte,  Car- 
dinal, 171,  213  ;  Marie,  Princess, 
96;  Mathilde,  Princess,  194;  Napo- 
leon Jerome,  Prince,  103,  169  et 
seq. ;  Pierre,  Prince,  96  ;  Roland, 
Prince,  96 ;  Victor  Napoleon, 


Prince,  103,  171  ;   Murat,  Prince 
Achille,  213,  214 

Russia,  alliance  with,  196  ;  illiteracy 
in,  217.  See  also  Nicholas,  under 
Royalties,  foreign. 

SALONS  after  1871.. 67 

Sans- Gene,  the  real,  200 

Scientists :  Bert,  Paul,  94  ;  Ber- 
tillon,  Dr.,  94,  95;  Charcot, 
Prof.,  94,  197  ;  Cuvier,  his  brain, 
144 ;  Dupuy  de  Lome,  141  ; 
Larrey,  Baron,  214 ;  Leverrier, 
84 ;  Milne-Edwards,  141  ;  Pas- 
teur, L.,  143,  144,  214,  215; 
Pean,  Dr.,  236 ;  Tissandier,  G., 
237 

Secretan,  M.,  149 

Society  under  MacMahon,  69  cl  seq. 

Soldiers :  Andlau,  Gl.  d',  145 ; 
Aumale,  Gl.  Duke  d',  see  Royalties, 
Orleans ;  Boulanger,  Gl.,  119, 
140,  143,  144,  146,  147;  Bour- 
baki,  GL,  234;  Brugere,  Gl., 
241 ;  Caffarel,  Gl.,  144 ;  Chanzy, 
Gl.,  86;  Cissey,  Gl.  de,  101; 
Esterhazy,  see  Walsin,  also  Drey- 
fus case  ;  Faidherbe,  Gl.,  151  ; 
Henry,  Col.,  234;  Jung,  Col., 
100,  101;  Lasalle,  Gl.,  171; 
Lebel,  Col.,  164;  Lebceuf,  Ml., 
96,  97 ;  MacMahon,  Ml.,  see 
Presidents,  under  Politicians,  etc. ; 
Mellinet,  Gl.,  204;  Munier,  Gl., 
229;  Ney  d'  Elchingen,  100, 
101;  Reffye,  Gl.  de,  86 ;  Renard, 
Capt.,  141 ;  Rochebouet,  GL, 
67  ;  Roget,  GL,  241 ;  Schramm, 
GL,  139,  140;  Schwarzkoppen, 
Col.  von,  239,  240;  Thibaudin, 
Gl,145;  Vinoy,Gl.,86;  Walsin- 
Esterhazy,  Maj.,  205,  240 

Spies,  German,  101 

Stage,  the,  including  theatres,  con- 
certs, music-halls,  etc. : 

Amusement  tax,  25 ;  censor- 
ship, 133 ;  gratuitous  perform- 
ances, 132 ;  receipts,  theatrical, 
23  et  seq. ;  subventions,  113 ; 
theatres  in  1781..  129,  130;  in 
1881.. 129 
Conservatoire  national  de 


316 


INDEX 


musique  et  de  declamation,  115, 
120,  121,  124,  223,  224,  236 

Subvenlioned  Theatres:  Com&lie 
Fransaise  or  Theatre  Fran§ais,  24, 
60,  61,  63,  64,  83, 113, 118  et  seg., 

126,  160,  183,  184  et  seg.,  186, 
187,  195,  199,  201,  209,  223,  225, 
232,  233,  236,  243,  244,  252,  253  ; 
management,    Perrin,    E.,    118, 
186;    Claretie,  J.,   186;    Hous- 
saye,  A.,  225  ;  societaires"  shares, 
126 

Lyrique,  Theatre,  55,  83,  113, 
115,  116,  243 
Odeon,   24,  60,   65,  113,  126, 

127,  135,    136,   233;     manage- 
ment, Antoine's,  135,  233 

Opera,  Grand,  23,  24,  57  et 
scg.,  82,  113,  114,  115,  130,  131, 
137,  185,  201 ;  management, 
Halan/ier's  and  others,  115,  186 

Opera,  Italien,  117 

Opera  Comique,  24,  52,  59, 
113,  116  et  seq.,  185;  fire  at, 
117 ;  management,  Carvalho's 
and  others,  115, 116,  186 

Chief  ordinary  Theatres  : 
Antoine,  Theatre,  see  Libre ; 
Apollo,  24;  Athenee,  24,  28; 
Bouffes  Parisiennes,  32,  83 ; 
Cbatelet,  24,  32  ;  Folies  Drama- 
tiques,  32,  37  ;  Gaite,  24,  202  ; 
Grand  Guignol,  181 ;  Gymnase, 
24,  65,  128,  184,  210;  Libre, 
Theatre,  135,  136,  233;  Palais 
Eoyal,  24;  -Porte  Saint-Martin, 

24,  43,  62,  65,  83,  131,  233,  253  ; 
Renaissance,  24,  82,   184,  201  ; 
Sarah   Bernhardt,   Theatre,   24; 
Varietes,  24  ;  Vaudeville,  24, 128 

Open-air  theatres,  233 

Concerts,  Music-halls,  Picture- 
palaces,  etc. :  generally,  25,  180 
et  seq. ;  Alhambra,  25 ;  Ba-ta- 
clan,  25 ;  Caveau,  Lc,  181  ; 
Chat  noir  cafe,  182;  Cirque 
M&lrano,  25 ;  Concert  Colonne, 

25,  93;    Concert  du  Conserva- 
toire,   25;     Concert   Pasdeloup, 


93;  Folies-Bergfcre,  25,  54,  55; 
Hippodrome  Cinema,  25 ;  Hor- 
loge  Cafe-concert,  55 ;  Magic 
City,  25;  Mayol's,  25;  Moulin 
llouge,  25;  Nouveau  Cirque, 
25  ;  Olympia,  25  ;  Pathe  Palace, 
25  ;  Scala,  La,  25  ;  various,  182 

Stone,  Lord  Mayor,  59 

Submarines,  French  and  German, 
244 

Suicides  in  France,  300.  Sec  also 
under  Paris,  population. 

Sweetmeats,  fashionable,  30,  31 

Syndicates,  see  Labour. 

THEATRES,  see  Stage. 

Theatrical  managers :  Antoine,  135, 
136,  233  ;  Bertrand,  E.,  186  ; 
Brahm,  O.,  136 ;  Campocasso, 
186  ;  Carre,  A.,  186  ;  Carvalho, 
L.,  115,  116,  186;  Claretie,  J., 
186;  Gailhard,  P.,  186;  Ginisty, 
P.,  233;  Halanzier,  115,  186; 
Locle,  C.  du,  116;  Ritt,  186; 
Vaucorbeil,  186 

Theatrical  parts,  some:  Buridan, 
62,  63 ;  Carmen,  51  ;  Cellini, 
Benvenuto,  63  ;  Clorinde,  60  ; 
Hamlet,  fat  or  thin,  244 ;  Juli- 
ette, 116;  Kean,  62;  Macairc, 
Robert,  63,  64 ;  Marguerite  in 
'Faust,'  116;  MascarUle,  122, 
123 ;  Mignon,  51  ;  Ophelia  and 
others,  116 

Triple  Alliance,  103 

Tunis  expedition,  103 

VERSAILLES,  fetes  at,  82,  219,  220 
Vizetelly,  E.  A.,  as  a  theatrical 
correspondent,  50,  51 ;  his  pas- 
sion for  music,  52  ;  at  the  Folies- 
Bergere,  54 ;  at  the  Concert  de 
1'Horloge,  55;  burns  the  candle 
at  both  ends,  72;  his  home  at 
Boulogne-sur-Seine,  106-108 ;  his 
marriage,  272  et  seq. 

WALLACE,  Sir  R.,  161, 162 
Wells  of  Monte  Carlo,  183 


1'RINTED  IN  ENGLAND  BY  WILLIAM   CLOWES  AND   SONS,   LIMITED,  LONDON  AND   BECCLES. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


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